CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an Instagram update on Sunday that Meta is launching a brand-new premium subscription service for verification called Meta Verified.
Users on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook platforms will be able to submit their government ID and receive a blue verification badge for $11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 per month on iOS.
This week, the service will launch in Australia and New Zealand, and additional nations will follow, according to Zuckerberg.
In the statement, Zuckerberg stated that “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services.”
Politicians, business leaders, members of the press, and organisations have historically received verification from Meta to vouch for their legitimacy.
The new subscription service from the corporation is comparable to Twitter Blue, a redesigned service that offers users a verification badge in exchange for a monthly charge.
As Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, pulled and postponed the first launch, the business finally debuted its modified version of the Twitter Blue membership service in December.
According to the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter in October, the new verification mechanism will be “the great leveller” and provide “power to the people.”
In November, Twitter Blue was briefly made available, but it was pulled when users utilised the new paid feature to impersonate corporations and celebrities.
The protections against impersonation are in place with Meta Verified subscriptions, according to a Meta representative.
Users must meet minimum account activity requirements, be at least 18 years old, and produce a government ID that matches their profile name and photo in order to be eligible.
According to the representative, subscriptions will also include “proactive monitoring” for account impersonation.
The business stated that users will not be allowed to modify their profile name, username, date of birth, or profile photo without going through the application process again.
Companies are not yet eligible to apply for Meta Verified.
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