WASHINGTON, Aug 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US Energy Secretary Rick Perry — who
oversees the country’s nuclear arsenal — has fallen for an Instagram hoax.
He reposted a message claiming there was a “new Instagram rule” that would
allow the social media site to “use your photos,” according to images of the
since-deleted post on Perry’s account — which he also linked to from Twitter
— that were carried by US media.
But Perry — a two-time presidential candidate and former governor of
Texas — was ready.
“Instagram DOES NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SHARE PHOTOS OR MESSAGES,”
according to the post, which billed itself as offering protection against the
new rule if it was displayed on a user’s account.
There was just one problem: there was no new rule.
“There’s no truth to this post,” BuzzFeed News quoted a spokesperson for
Instagram’s parent company Facebook as saying.
Perry came in for heavy criticism on social media, with various users
wondering whether someone who couldn’t identify an internet hoax should be in
charge of nuclear arms.
“You are promoting a fake story. Do better. Or retire as Secretary of
Energy. Our nuclear arsenal should be in steadier hands,” one user wrote to
Perry on Twitter.
The energy secretary — who once famously said he would abolish the
department he now heads — then turned to Instagram again, attempting to
control the fallout by poking fun at his earlier mistake.
“I give Instagram the express right to publish, distribute and/or sell any
or all of my digital content posted to the account @governorperry,” Perry
said in a post.
“This post I made on my phone shall stand as a legally binding document,
in perpetuity throughout the universe.”