People are mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Devices, however, are not. A current hoax floating around the internet claims that the game Roblox is unavailable to British users because of the monarch’s death, and another says that Apple iPads set to British English go into “mourning mode” and won’t operate.
To the surprise to no one who thinks about this for more than a minute, these aren’t true. But that hasn’t stopped people from spreading the urban legends, even if they mean it as a joke.
The Roblox hoax shows a photo of the late queen and uses the headline “Disconnected” before claiming the game isn’t available.
Roblox spokesperson William Nevius confirmed to me in an email that the game isn’t affected by the funeral plans.
The iPad hoax is similar.
“Friendly warning, DO NOT set your iPad’s language to British English or it will go into mourning mode for the next couple of days,” reads one tweet. It also displays a faked image of an iPad showing a smiling photo of the late queen and the words, “This iPad is unavailable for the Royal period of Mourning and will continue to be until Monday 19 September.” That Monday is the day of the queen’s funeral.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but if you switch your iPad to British English, it still works as expected.
A similar hoax was spread regarding Nintendo gaming devices. When shared on Facebook, such hoaxes are given a “False information” label.
However, there’s a germ of truth in the Nintendo item. The company livestreamed a Nintendo Direct event on Tuesday, but it wasn’t livestreamed in the UK due to the national mourning period. It was still shared there after the live event had ended.
