Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is trolled after sharing a hoax post claiming Instagram is changing its rules – with many wondering how a former Governor of Texas could fall for a ‘chain email’
- Secretary of Energy Rick Perry shared a meme to Instagram on Tuesday, believing it would prevent his social media giant from releasing all his content
- However, the meme was a hoax being widely disseminated by Instagram users across the world
- Perry was trolled after he fell for the hoax, with some questioning how he could be a government official when he couldn’t recognize an internet prank
- Perry quickly deleted the meme from his page and replaced it with a self-deprecating parody in which he poked fun of the fact he was duped
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is being trolled after he fell for a hoax meme claiming Instagram was changing its rules to make all photos and messages publicly available.
The Trump administration official – who overseas America’s vast stockpile of nuclear weapons – posted the meme to his Instagram account on Tuesday, believing that by doing so he was preventing the social media giant from sharing his information.
The meme read: ‘I do not give Instagram or any entities associated with Instagram permission to use my pictures, information, messages or posts, both past and future… 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 If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos’.
While Perry believed that Instagram’s privacy policy was changing, he had actually inadvertently re-posted the hoax meme.
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is being trolled after he fell for a hoax meme claiming Instagram was changing its rules to make all photos and messages publicly available
The Trump administration official – who overseas America’s vast stockpile of nuclear weapons – posted this meme to his Instagram account on Tuesday
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri tweeted on Tuesday night that whispers about the social media giant changing its rules were ‘not true’.
While other stars were also duped into re-posting the meme on their accounts, Perry was particularly called out for the fact he wasn’t able to discern that it was an inauthentic message.
‘How the hell are you in charge of the department of energy when you fall for the social media version of chain email?’ one wrote.
Another wrote: ‘Maybe seeing and posting the hoax like you did should be grounds for your termination. How the effort can you be in charge of our nukes when you eat up hoaxes like they’re delicious chocolate chip cookies?’
A third person humorously stated: ‘I’d like to introduce you to a Nigerian prince’.
That comment was a reference to infamous scam e-mails claiming a Nigerian prince is offering money if he can access details to a user’s bank account.
‘How the hell are you in charge of the department of energy when you fall for the social media version of chain email?’ Many Instagram users questioned Perry after he fell for the prank
Perry quickly deleted the post after realizing he had been tricked.
He showcased his sense of humor by later sharing a satirical post in which he wrote: ‘I give Instagram the express right to publish, distribute and/ or sell any of my digital content… including but not limited to: Pictures of daschunds, Texas flags, proof my wide is better looking than yours’.
Some appreciated his sense of humor, with one person writing: ‘You’re so good natured Governor Perry’.
Others were less than impressed.
‘Great representation of our country. A joke, that you and countless other Americans fell for. Just like the people who voted for our president,’ one blasted.
However, Perry wasn’t the only big name to fall for the Instagram hoax.
Pink, Julia Roberts and Rob Lowe also posted the meme on their respective accounts.
Perry showcased his sense of humor by later sharing a satirical post which poked fun at the fact he was duped