Reports circulating around the world claim Facebook's parent company Meta has adopted a new policy to allow the platform unrestricted access to user content, including deleted messages. The claim is false; Facebook said the rumours were baseless. AFP previously debunked similar claims that circulated as chain messages in 2020.
"The new Facebook/Meta rule starts tomorrow where they can use your photos. Don't forget the deadline is today!" reads a Thai-language Facebook post from November 22.
"I DO NOT ALLOW Facebook/Meta or any other Facebook/Meta related person to use my photos, information, messages or messages, both in the past and in the future."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in October the platform was changing the name of its parent company -- which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp -- to Meta.
Similar claims were shared on Facebook in the United States, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Singapore and Thailand.
However, this claim is false.
"I can confirm that the chain message in question is not true," Manaschuen Kovapirat, Facebook's communications manager for Thailand and Laos, told AFP on November 23.
"People can view and adjust their privacy settings at any time and also use the Privacy Check-up tool to help them control who can see what they share, how their information is used and how to strengthen their account security," she said.
"Emails from Facebook about your account always come from fb.com, facebook.com or facebookmail.com," she said, and warned against clicking on "suspicious links or attachments."
The social media giant's policy towards collecting user data can be found on their policy page here.
AFP debunked a similar hoax about a purported new Facebook policy in 2020.