--- description: Last Week Tonight host John Oliver on why the Facebook copyright statements are a hoax and do not protect personal information, privacy title: Watch John Oliver Debunk Viral Facebook Privacy Statuses image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch John Oliver Debunk Viral Facebook Privacy Statuses  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 30, 2015 9:31 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 30, 2015 9:31 PM CUT John Oliver, host of HBO’s _Last Week Tonight with John Oliver_, debunks the copyright statement [everyone is posting on Facebook](http://time.com/4053311/facebook-status-privacy-hoax/ "undefined") — in a video uploaded to the social network on Wednesday. The comedian points out that some versions start out with “I do declare the following” — which does not make whatever comes after it legally-binding — while other versions misspell statute as “statue.” Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg legitimized the takedown by “liking” the clip on the show’s page. So now you can share this link with people who are falling for the hoax. Or just “unfollow” them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4056688/john-oliver-facebook-copyright-status-hoax-privacy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4056688/john-oliver-facebook-copyright-status-hoax-privacy/"},"headline":"Watch John Oliver Debunk Viral Facebook Privacy Statuses","datePublished":"2015-09-30T21:31:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:25:27.422Z","description":"Even Mark Zuckerberg legitimized the takedown","url":"https://time.com/4056688/john-oliver-facebook-copyright-status-hoax-privacy/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Technology"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4056688/john-oliver-facebook-copyright-status-hoax-privacy/","name":"Watch John Oliver Debunk Viral Facebook Privacy Statuses"}}]}] ```