Twitter contains three things: depressing Brexit news, mind-bending discourse about the new Joker film, and Very Good Memes. Head through your online joke tunnel – past Area 51, through the fish tube, around the feral hogs – and you’ll end up here: attempting to free Lorde from jail. 

Lorde is not in jail, Lorde has never been in jail, and yet #FreeLorde is trending on Twitter. The ruckus began when a New Zealand publication called Newshub wrote an article about a proposed policy which would see parents of high school dropouts fined $3,000 (£1,551). Lorde was named as one of the notable people who would be impacted by the as-yet-unconfirmed penalty – as the singer didn’t return to school after the release of her 2013 debut album, Pure Heroine – though Newshub never suggested she would receive jail time.

This is where Twitter comes in. “Imagine wanting to imprison an artist who made NZ so famous and well known for having a talented 16-year-old girl,” one user wrote. “We gotta save Lorde till we die #FreeLorde.”

The hashtag was then co-opted by stans who obviously saw no truth in the rumours, instead filling the TL with memes. Enjoy some of the best below.