Celebrities, Rick Perry duped by viral Instagram hoax

A viral Instagram hoax that encouraged users to repost an image purporting to deny the company the legal rights to a user’s content ensnared a number of high-profile celebrities and even fooled Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Yahoo News reported that the hoax, which went viral earlier this week after being started by an unknown user, quickly spread to A-list celebrities including Julia Roberts, Rob Lowe, Debra Messing and former One Direction member Niall Horan.

The fake post claims that under new rules beginning soon, an Instagram user’s content “can be used in court cases in litigation against you” unless the hoax post was reposted on a user’s profile.

{mosads}Someone posted the information on Perry’s account on Wednesday before taking it down. 

Screenshots of Perry’s post show the governor apparently realizing the post was fake in the comments section, joking that it was the “first time” he’d seen something false online.

Rick Perry leaving some comments under his own post after seemingly falling for the Instagram hoax. pic.twitter.com/oRxE5zvKLV

— Donie O’Sullivan (@donie) August 21, 2019

Instagram head Adam Mosseri addressed the hoax in a public Story on Instagram, warning users that the post was not accurate and noting that the company had no plans to issue a rule change concerning user content and litigation.

“Heads up! If you’re seeing a meme claiming that Instagram is changing its rules tomorrow, it’s not true,” he said.