In March 2026, multiple Facebook users reposted a message alleging a legal spokesperson advised viewers of CBS News' "60 Minutes" to share a warning about personal data and artificial intelligence.
According to the posts, users who shared the message forbid Meta, Facebook's parent company, from using users' photos and personal data. The copied-and-pasted text also claims to revoke certain AI permissions, including the study of users' "internet presence."
The warning appeared repeatedly in Facebook search results. Snopes also received numerous emails and hundreds of searches seeking to verify the claim. The Facebook posts read as follows:
Just in case you missed 60 Minutes: A legal spokesperson advised us to post this notice. This violation of privacy can be punishable by law. Note: Facebook Meta is now a public entity. Every member must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be technically understood that you are permitting the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates. I hereby declare that I do not give Facebook Meta my permission to use any of my personal data. I also do not give AI permission to look at my internet presence, period. I do not agree to let anyone offer me AI without my specific authorization or permission. Copy and paste to your page.
In short, this rumor was false. "60 Minutes" never advised users to copy and paste such a warning in a Facebook post, and Meta had not launched any new initiatives related to users' photos and personal data or AI.
The posts' claim about Facebook being "a public entity" is also outdated. The company has been publicly traded since 2012.
The long-running Facebook hoax
One of the oldest and most persistent rumors in internet history is the Facebook post asking users to copy and paste text to declare an establishment of legal authority. Copying and pasting a block of text into a Facebook post does not change the fact that users already agreed to the company's terms of service and privacy policy when they signed up for an account.
In 2019, Meta said of such rumors, "Copy-and-paste memes — those blocks of text posted on message boards, forwarded in emails and shared via social media — are as old as the internet."
We previously reported on this rumor, including several variations of the same text and many prior versions. We label such posts as copypasta, meaning copied-and-pasted social media messages.
For further reading, we previously investigated another rumor claiming Meta planned to update the company's privacy policy to give it permission to read all direct messages sent by its users and use the data to train its generative AI.