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In December 2009, Facebook users were hit with yet another hoax when messages began circulating advising them that on 30 June 2010 the popular social networking site would be instituting a monthly charge of $4.99 and entreating them to visit a particular Facebook group supposedly set up to protest the impending charge: Some of these messages were just hoaxes; others pointed users to protest page that was a trap for the unwary: clicking on certain elements of it initiated a script that hijacked users' computers. Some of those who did venture a click had their computers taken over by a series of highly objectionable images while malware simultaneously attempted to install itself onto their computers. The claim that Facebook would be initiating user charges was but the bait to lure people to the protest page and its hidden malicious payload; there are no plans afoot to require payment from those who use the site. Regarding the issue of whether Facebook would ever charge users for its social networking services, that company's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, said in an April 2009 Business Week interview that: The answer is no, we are not planning on charging a basic fee for our basic services. Once again, that question stems from people thinking we're growing so quickly, we're running out of money. We're growing really quickly, but we can finance that growth. We're not going to charge for our basic services. In their Help Center section, the social network says in answer to the query Will Facebook ever charge for service? quite plainly No. We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone. In early July 2011, the spread of yet another Facebook is about to start charging its users canard (driven by a fictional Weekly World News article) was fueled by the promise contained in that version of the hoax that users who posted the rumor as their status would be spared the levy. Those who attempted to exempt themselves from the charge thereby spread the lie even further, thus doing the leg work of the hoaxsters. (The logical disconnect of the practical joke seemed to evade many: If Facebook were bent upon extracting fees from its users, why would it choose to exempt any of them?) In late September 2011, the post as your status to get out of being charged and make the icon turn blue hoax ran rampant yet again, this time accompanied by claims that Facebook would be implementing a tiered membership system. The same hoax reappeared in May 2012 and again in July 2013. In September 2014 the fake news site National Report piled on to this tired hoax meme by publishing a fictitious article positing that Facebook would begin charging users $2.99 per month starting 1 November 2014: As of September 2017 the hoax remained in broad circulation via Facebook. A version attributed to Mark, the Director of Facebook suggested that it seems that all the warnings are real and Facebook use will cost money: However, as of September 2017, a Facebook help page answered the question Does it cost money to use Facebook? Is it true that Facebook is going to charge to use the site? in this way: In April 2018 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during congressional testimony that there will always be a version of Facebook that is free, a comment which suggested that the social media company has at least considered a paid (possibly ad-free) version of their platform, but no such version has been announced or demonstrated.
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