What was claimed
Participants in a remote video meeting are being required to wear masks.
Our verdict
This isn’t true. It comes from a joke video on TikTok.
TikTok joke about masks in Zoom meetings is taken seriously on Facebook
7 January 2022
A joke from TikTok about wearing masks in Zoom meetings is being shared on Facebook, where some users seem to believe that it is real.
The Facebook post includes a screenshot of an email, which says: “Team, I am writing you all today to inform you of a new protocol for our staff zoom meetings. Moving forward, everyone will be required to wear a mask during our meetings. One of our team members has a fear of unmasked people, and I want to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable. This requirement is effective immediately.”
This comes from a satirical TikTok account in the US. The account first posted a video telling this story on 31 December 2021. It followed this, on 4 January, with the screenshot of “the email”, which was subsequently used in this Facebook post.
Some comments on Facebook suggest that users believe this is a real story. However, the TikTok account where it originated, called zactokz, describes itself as “satire”. It has since made further TikToks on the same subject, suggesting that the fearful team member could “close her eyes”.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as satire because this is a joke from a satirical TikTok account.