Audio By Carbonatix
Meta is testing a subscription service which will allow Instagram and Facebook users to pay to get verified, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Instagram Sunday.
“Meta Verified” will start at $11.99 a month on the web or $14.99 a month on iOS, and the company will begin releasing it in Australia and New Zealand this week and “more countries soon.”
The service also comes with other perks: extra protection from impersonation accounts and direct access to customer support.
To avoid fake accounts, customers who want to get the blue badge would need to provide a government ID which matches their profile name and picture. Users must also be above 18 to be eligible.
“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuckerberg wrote in an Instagram broadcast channel.
In a statement, Meta clarified there will be no changes to accounts that are already verified. Verification was previously for users who are “authentic and notable.”
“We are evolving the meaning of the blue badge to focus on authenticity so we can expand verification access to more people,” a Meta spokesperson said. “We will display follower count in more places so people can distinguish which accounts are notable public figures among accounts that share the same name.”
Meta joins other platforms, like Discord, Reddit and YouTube, who have their own subscription-based models.
Twitter relaunched its own verification subscription service, Twitter Blue, in December, after an onset of fake “verified” accounts forced it to pull the feature. The check mark options now have different colors to differentiate between accounts: gold checks for companies, gray checks for government entities and other organizations, and blue checks for individuals, whether or not they are celebrities.
Twitter Blue costs $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers, part of owner Elon Musk’s attempt to raise its subscriptions business after buying the platform for $44 billion.
Latest Stories
-
Star Oil pays GH¢ 2.6 billion in taxes and levies for 2025
51 seconds -
The Uncertainty of Precision: How VAR Mirrors the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in Football
13 minutes -
Paradigm Initiative condemns internet shutdown ahead of Uganda elections
16 minutes -
Jospong’s sustainability drive deserves more spotlight nationally and internationally – Dr Gloria Kusi
22 minutes -
Black Sherif gives 2025 a perfect score: “100 out of 100”
26 minutes -
GIADEC, Metalloid and GIBDLC secure $60m facility to advance Nyinahin bauxite project
40 minutes -
CAF Trophy Hunt: Win Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, Xbox Series X, Apple iPad Air and other prizes in 1xBet promo!
49 minutes -
Legacy leadership goes beyond profit – Rev Dr Sam Adeyemi
56 minutes -
Ghana EXIM Bank marks 10 years with renewed drive for export finance and industrial transformation
1 hour -
The Inconvenient Truth: The Cost of Confusing Citizenship, Government, Governance, and Governing
1 hour -
David Asante says Ghana Publishing Company was profitable before change in management
1 hour -
Government urged to curb sand winning on farmlands
1 hour -
DVLA to issue international driving licences to Ghanaians in five countries
1 hour -
Women Development Bank to be rolled out this year – Kwakye Ofosu announces
1 hour -
Akonta Mining manager granted GH¢10m bail in Wontumi illegal mining case
1 hour
