A rumor that Scotland accidentally launched an initiative to allow women to go topless named “T***ies for Cities” circulated online in early December 2025. According to the rumors, the country’s authorities were intending to start a potato-growing scheme instead, which it intended to call “Tatties for Cities.” “Tatties” is a Scottish term for “potatoes,” often referring to mashed potatoes, for example in a dish known as mince and tatties — ground beef and mashed potatoes.
For example, an X user posted about the rumor on Dec. 3:
Scotland is in a state of pure confusion this morning after ministers officially approved a brand new nationwide initiative titled “T***ies for Cities.” What began as a routine policy review has now spiralled into the most baffling government announcement since the time someone accidentally approved a seagull compensation scheme.Â
According to several mortified civil servants, this was never the intention. The initiative was supposed to be “Tatties for Cities”, a wholesome agricultural scheme aimed at boosting Scotland’s potato production to keep up with national demand for chips, mash, crisps, and the millions of tattie scones sold every week across the country. The plan was simple, transform rundown, vacant and derelict patches of land in Scotland’s cities into community potato plots that would help feed the nation.
The rumor spread further on X, Facebook and Threads. In addition, Snopes received an email inquiring about the veracity of the story.
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence that Scotland had accidentally launched an initiative “tae get yer baps oot in public,” — that is, to allow women to go topless.
Rather, the rumor about Scotland freeing the nipple originated with Scottish Aye — a Facebook account that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Its bio describes it as a “satire/parody” page and states “100% Maybe True Scottish Stories.”
The fictional story spread after a September 2025 report showed that “one million people across Scotland, including 210,000 children, lived in food insecure households in 2024.”
The Scottish Aye’s original post included an image generated by artificial intelligence. The image showed people with uncannily smooth features sitting at a long table with a banners that read “T***ies for Cities.” Their fingers were blurry or melded into each other, another indication the image was AI-generated.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims about places that allow women to take their tops off, including Disney World.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
