{"id":1081,"date":"2019-04-06T19:33:31","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T19:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/?p=1081"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T17:00:00","slug":"Bogus-Warning---'Don't-Use-French-Flag-as-Your-Profile-Picture-Because-ISIS-Will-Find-You-and-Kill-You'---Hoax-Slayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/?p=1081","title":{"rendered":"Bogus Warning – 'Don't Use French Flag as Your Profile Picture Because ISIS Will Find You and Kill You' – Hoax-Slayer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Change<\/a><\/p>\n

This message, which is circulating via \u00a0social media<\/a>, email, and SMS, warns you not \u00a0to \u00a0use the French flag overlay on your Facebook profile because, if you do so, terrorist group ISIS will find you and kill you and your family.<\/p>\n

The post asks you to share the information about the perceived threat with \u00a0your friends and family. A number of people have contacted me to ask if the warning has any substance. The answer of course, is that no, it has no substance whatsoever.<\/p>\n

While the recent terrorist attacks in Paris have understandably raised fear and \u00a0alarm among communities, this nonsensical warning is nothing more than rampant paranoia. \u00a0There is no credible information or official warnings that support the claim that ISIS might somehow be intending to \u00a0target individual Facebook users who are using the French flag overlay. The warning does not cite any references to back up its claim. And, the scenario described is vastly improbable. \u00a0Given that millions of users from all over the \u00a0world are now using the overlay, ISIS would certainly have \u00a0its work cut out for it.<\/p>\n

The message may be a garbled version of another unsubstantiated rumour<\/a> that suggested that ISIS could use the ‘support Paris pic’ to track down \u00a0and identify members of the military and their families. But, since the flag overlay is being \u00a0used by millions \u00a0of people who are not members of any military force and have no family connection to serving military members, that \u00a0version of the warning is also illogical and without credibility.<\/p>\n

Terrorist groups \u00a0such as ISIS want to spread \u00a0disruption, fear, \u00a0and terror. \u00a0 These \u00a0utterly pointless and \u00a0paranoid \u00a0warnings \u00a0just play into their hands.<\/p>\n