Meta is testing a paid verification service dubbed “Meta Verified” for Instagram and Facebook for $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month on mobile. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement via a Meta Broadcast Channel that “Meta Verified” will grant users a verified badge along with several other benefits, including, increased visibility & reach, improved protection against impersonation attacks, prioritized customer support, 100 free stars per month, or the digital currency you can use to tip creators on Facebook, and more.
“This week we’re starting to roll out Meta Verified — a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support,” writes Zuckerberg. “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services.”
The subscription bundle for Instagram and Facebook is first rolling out to Australia and New Zealand this week with gradual launches in other countries to follow.
Meta notes that it won’t make any changes to accounts that have been verified using the company’s previous requirements, including notability and authenticity. However, this does not apply to all Twitter users—as confirmed by Elon Musk, those who obtained the blue tick mark outside of the Twitter Blue subscription will lose it in the coming months.
With Meta Verified, you will be required to meet specific eligibility criteria. These criteria include being 18 years old or older and providing a government-issued ID that matches the profile name and photo on their Facebook or Instagram account. Once verified, users are not permitted to change their profile name, username, date of birth, or photo without undergoing the verification process again.
The company has noted that businesses can’t yet apply for a badge as yet.
Until now, only high-profile figures such as lawmakers, actors, musicians, sports athletes, and journalists were eligible for a blue checkmark to indicate their authenticity. However, ever since Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover, has lambasted the idea, arguing that the feature should be open to all.
