An Instagram Hoax Just Fooled Many Celebrities and Influencers

It was an interesting week on social media site Instagram, as the platform was hit with a hoax that falsely claimed it is making major changes to its terms of service.

The hoax warned that Instagram is changing its privacy policy and will make public all of users’ photos, including deleted messages. The hoax also claimed the site can “use” users’ photos against them in court, and says users have to repost the image in order to prevent Instagram from taking action.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry shared the post on his Instagram and Twitter accounts but later deleted the Instagram post after acknowledging in a comment that the image was fake.

Instagram flatly denied the hoax, but not before many celebrities and influencers had shared it.

Actresses Julia Roberts, Debra Messing, and Taraji P. Henson, as well as movie producer Judd Apatow, and musicians Pink, T.I., and Usher, were among those to share the hoax.

“There’s no truth in this post,” said Facebook spokesperson Stephanie Otway.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, also said, “If you’re seeing a meme claiming Instagram is changing its rules tomorrow, it’s not true.”