Instagram And Facebook Users Can Now Subscribe To Meta's Paid Verification Service

CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, announced in an Instagram post that the company is launching a new subscription service called Meta Verified, which will allow users to receive paid verifications.

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Users of Meta's Instagram and Facebook platforms can submit their government ID and get a blue verification badge by subscribing to Meta's service for $12.99 a month on the web and $14.99 a month on iOS. According to Zuckerberg, the service will be introduced in Australia and New Zealand this week, and more countries will follow in the near future.

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“We are enhancing the authenticity and security of our services through this new feature,” Zuckerberg wrote in his post.

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As a way to signal its legitimacy, Meta has traditionally granted verification to notable users, such as politicians, executives, members of the press, and organizations. As part of its new subscription service, the company will also grant users a verification badge if they pay a monthly fee, which is similar to Twitter's redesigned service called Twitter Blue.

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Following the company's new owner Elon Musk pulled and delaying the initial launch, Twitter launched its updated version of its Twitter Blue subscription service in December. This new verification system, which was developed by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, has been hailed as "the great leveler" that will give the "people power."

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There was a brief launch of Twitter Blue in November, but the service was pulled after users impersonated celebrities and brands with the new paid option, which led to abuse.

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It was confirmed by a Meta spokesperson on Sunday that the Meta Verified subscriptions have impersonation protections in place. In order to qualify, users must be at least 18 years old, meet minimum account activity requirements, and submit a government ID that matches their profile name and photo in order to qualify. As part of the subscription plan, subscribers will also be able to benefit from 'proactive monitoring' for account impersonation, according to the spokesperson.

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There has been no doubt that Musk intends to eventually remove badges from Twitter accounts that were verified prior to the launch of Twitter Blue, but as Meta tests its service, it will not make any changes to accounts that are already verified, a spokesperson for the company said.

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There is currently no eligibility for businesses to apply for Meta Verified, and according to the company, users will not be able to change their profile name, username, date of birth, or profile photo without reapplying for the service.