Privacy fears fuel Facebook hoax

What made a viral hoax about privacy spread so easily on Facebook? Share your thoughts below.

• The Facebook copyright hoax became the talk of the Internet, but what does it say about online privacy?
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(CNN) -- Something about the Facebook privacy hoax has gotten people to click "share."

First, the faux copyright legalese spread like wildfire across the social networking site. Many users recently found their news feeds awash with postings suggesting that the users who displayed them would get extra copyright and privacy protection.

Then came the predictable backlash, as the Internet rushed in to debunk this latest theory. Even still, some people kept posting the message and it continued to spread on Tuesday morning.

Facebook has issued a statement saying the text posts are a hoax: "Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been."

 A privacy hoax circulated on Facebook.

A privacy hoax circulated on Facebook.

This meme is similar to a previous scheme years ago that suggested website owners place protective text on their pages, says the hoax-debunking site Snopes.com.

While many Facebook and Twitter posts snickered about the hubbub, concerns about online privacy linger.

"It may have been a hoax, but it did not hurt!"