Facebook privacy hoax making the rounds - again

A Facebook post that has thousands of users concerned about their privacy on the social networking site is making the rounds - again.

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - A Facebook post that has thousands of users concerned about their privacy on the social networking site is making the rounds.

You may have seen your Facebook friends share a message about protecting their copyright or privacy rights. There's even a version going around referencing "Channel 13."

But you should know that it's a hoax, and at no point did WTHR-TV report it as legitimate. Versions of this post have been making the rounds for a couple of years, and every so often, it resurfaces.

In fact, this story about the hoax was originally written in January 2015, then resurfaced about a year later. This week, users have been sharing the post again - and it's still not true.

Here's how the post reads this time around:

Deadline tomorrow !!! Everything you've ever posted becomes public from tomorrow. Even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. It costs nothing for a simple copy and paste, better safe than sorry. Channel 13 News talked about the change in Facebook's privacy policy. I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, messages or posts, both past and future. With this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE. Copy and paste

("Channel 13 News" didn't talk about this. We should know.)

According to Snopes, the claims made in the viral post are erroneous. Facebook is not claiming copyright to your personal information. You can see how Facebook uses your information here.

Users DO give Facebook permission to distribute and share their content. But Facebook doesn't own it. To see how Facebook shares your content, click here.

You have control over what you choose to share on Facebook. You can decide not to post certain content. You can also limits who sees it by adjusting your settings - they can be "public" - meaning everyone can see it; or you can limit it to your friends - or even custom settings where you share with a subgroup of your friends.

More from Snopes:

"In any case, Facebook users cannot retroactively negate any of the privacy or copyright terms they agreed to when they signed up for their accounts, nor can they unilaterally alter or contradict any new privacy or copyright terms instituted by Facebook, simply by posting a contrary legal notice on their Facebook walls. Moreover, the fact that Facebook is now a publicly traded company (i.e., a company that has issued stocks which are traded on the open market) or an "open capital entity" has nothing to do with copyright protection or privacy rights."

See more internet hoaxes here, and please SHARE with your friends. ALWAYS research your story before reposting. Snopes is a good resource for debunking myths and rumors.