Mozilla Assures Users It Hasn't Killed Its Famous Fox

If you've been on the internet discussing tech over the past few weeks, then you might have seen a meme or two referencing the "logo change" of the web browser Mozilla Firefox. Well, as it turns out, Mozilla is but another victim of the spread of fake news online.

Mozilla Addresses Backlash Following Spread of False Rumor

After being accused of "killing" its browser's iconic mascot, Mozilla has come out with a blog post telling everyone to relax—the fox is still in the Mozilla Firefox logo, and that isn't going to change.

If you're a regular Firefox user, you might be thinking: Firefox has used its current logo for over 18 months. How could anyone possibly make the mistake that the fox isn't there?

How One Tweet Misinformed Thousands of Netizens

Near the end of February 2021, Twitter user @UnfunnyLuigi (formerly @very_real_Luigi) took to the platform to falsely announce that Mozilla removed the fox from its browser's icon.

Clearly, they didn't read the company's old announcement post.

In June 2019, Mozilla changed all the logos of its entire line of products. This included Firefox, the company's free and open-source web browser, as well as Firefox Send (no longer available), Monitor, and Lockwise.

So @UnfunnyLuigi mistakenly thought that Firefox's overarching brand logo was the new logo for the Firefox browser. Oops.

Unfortunately, by the time they realized they were wrong, it was probably too late. At the time of writing, tweet has over half a million likes and over 80,000 comments.

What's more, Reddit got in on the discussion too. Redditor TheGoldenDeer_ posted a tier list to the /r/dankmemes subreddit, ranking all of the logos that Mozilla Firefox has ever had. Of course, it wrongfully assumes that the Firefox brand logo is the Firefox browser's newest logo, and places it in the bottommost tier.

It was after these two posts to Twitter and Reddit respectively that the internet really got into the swing of things. For a few days, almost everywhere you looked, you'd find a meme or two parodying and criticizing the Firefox logo.

Related: How to Use Multiple Picture-in-Picture Mode in Firefox

Mozilla Urges You To Learn To Spot Fake News

Mozilla writes that while the company has written a lot about spotting misinformation and fake news, it feels important to also point out that "not all misinformation looks the same." The post continues:

"It’s not all sensational headlines. Sometimes it’s memes. And meme cycles move and evolve quickly, so you’ve got this [meme] turning into this [meme] turning into this [meme], getting funnier and [but] also further from reality by degrees."

This giant misunderstanding could have been avoided if the first few users that thought that Mozilla changed the Firefox logo did a quick fact-check. In order to not spread misinformation online, please only share news stories if they are reported by a reputable source.

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