Reports that
Mark Zuckerberg is closing down Facebook are false. The Facebook CEO did not announce in a video that he is deleting the popular social networking site—rumors that he is shutting down Facebook stemmed from an April Fools’ Day joke.
According to Snopes, the fake claim was shared in a video posted to YouTube and Facebook on April 1. In the video, titled “A World Without Facebook,” Zuckerberg appears to say, “Hey everyone, Zuck here with a huge announcement. So, after much consideration, I’ve decided that I, the Zuck man himself, will be deleting Facebook.”
Zuckerberg, however, made no such announcement about Facebook being shut down. The video, which was viewed more than 32 million times, is actually an April Fools’ Day prank. The video is nothing more than a digitally-manipulated fake. The creator of the video even admits that it is nothing more than a hoax. “This video is satire,” the disclaimer at the end of the video reads. “Bayview Drive Films and Andrew Oleck are not affiliated with, sponsored by or otherwise endorsed by Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg.” Additionally, as Gizmodo reports, the lips and voice featured in the video are those of Oleck, the viral video’s creator, not Zuckerberg.