03/26/2025
Neither CBS News nor "60 Minutes" ever issued any such guidance. Further, a Facebook post is not a legal document. The act of copying and pasting a message on a user's Facebook feed does not alter a user's agreement of the company's terms, privacy policy and cookie policy.
A rumor was circulating online in early 2025 saying that the CBS News TV program "60 Minutes" advised viewers to copy and paste a supposed legal notice on their Facebook feeds. According to the Facebook users who shared the message, reposting the text officially informed Meta — Facebook's parent company — not to use their personal data or photos for any unauthorized purposes. One Snopes reader asked if the rumor was true or false.
One Facebook user's copied-and-pasted post (archived) from Jan. 7 read as follows:
According to the show 60 Minutes:
Just in case you missed it: a lawyer advised us to post this. The violation of privacy can be punished 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 If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be technically understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates.
I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION FOR FACEBOOK OR META TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA. DO NOT USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA.
Numerous users shared similar messages, all claiming that "60 Minutes" issued an advisory or some sort of guidance.
However, this rumor was false. A search of CBSNews.com produced no information advising viewers to post a message on Facebook about the usage of their personal data and photos. Also, Meta did not publish any company news about plans to do something new and unwanted with users' data and photos. Further, posting such a message in no way constitutes a legal notice to Meta, as users already agreed to the company's terms, privacy policy and cookies policy when they initially signed up for their accounts.
Snopes contacted CBS News for comment and will update this article if they reply.
A Long-Running Hoax
The language Facebook "is now a public entity" was one clue that the posts featured an old rumor. Facebook held its initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market in 2012.
Snopes has reported on numerous variations of this same rumor since that year. The copied-and-pasted posts are part of a long-running hoax.
For further reading, we previously compiled a list of rumors involving Facebook "copypasta" — internet slang combining the words "copy" and "paste."
