OutlineCirculating report claims that Facebook will be shut down for a full week starting on January 1st so that standard maintenance can be performed on the site.
Brief AnalysisFacebook will not be shut down for maintenance as claimed. The story is just a prank article published by the fake-news website National Report. National Report claims to be satirical and nothing published on the site should be taken seriously.
Example
Facebook To Be Shutdown For A Full Week To Perform Standard Maintenance<National Report> Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, has announced that the social media giant will experience a week-long shutdown, due to standard maintenance being performed on the site. Starting at midnight PST on January 1, 2015, users will not be able to login to their Facebook accounts for seven full days. Access to Facebook will be restored to the public on January 8, 2015, at midnight PST
Detailed Analysis
Report Claims Facebook to be Shut Down For Maintenance
According to a 'news' report that is spreading via social media, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook will shut down for an entire week starting on January 1st 2015.
The report explains that the closure will allow standard maintenance to be carried out on the site. Supposedly, the outage will impact all users, including those who access Facebook via smartphones and tablets.
The article includes a phone number that supposedly allows concerned users to contact Facebook staff about the closure.
Report is Nonsense - Comes From Fake-News Site National Report
However, the report is - of course - just a silly prank. Facebook is not going to close for maintenance. The prank story comes from the fake-news website National Report, which apparently imagines itself to be satirical. Nothing published on the site is true and its stories should not be given any credence.
In recent months, the site has been responsible for a stream of stories that have circulated virally,spreading angst and discontent as they travel.
National Report masquerades as a news site and presents its fictional stories in news format. And, it has no clear disclaimer that might alert readers to the fictional nature of its content.
Thus, many readers believe the stories they read on the site and share them via social media.
With so many fake-news websites now spreading their nonsense across the Internet, it is a good idea to verify any 'news' stories that come your way before sharing them.
Phone Number in Report Connects to Westboro Baptist Church
A favourite National Report ruse is to include the phone number for the notorious hate group Westboro Baptist Church as part of their stories. In this case, they have listed the Westboro Baptist Church's number as the Facebook support line.
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