On Sunday, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement on Instagram, confirming the launch of its subscription-based service that enables users of Facebook and Instagram to pay for the verification of their accounts.
The service, named “Meta Verified,” will be launched in Australia and New Zealand this week, and gradually introduced to other countries. The subscription fee for “Meta Verified” is $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 per month on iOS. Apart from account verification, the service offers additional benefits such as increased protection against impersonation accounts and direct access to customer support.
In an Instagram broadcast channel, Zuckerberg wrote, “this new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,”
A company spokesperson added, “We are evolving the meaning of the blue badge to focus on authenticity so we can expand verification access to more people.”
Meta has stated that accounts which have already been verified will remain unchanged. To get “extra impersonation protection,” 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.
“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,” clarified a Meta spokesperson.
According to the company’s statement, the degree of increased visibility that posts from verified users will receive will depend on the size of the subscriber’s current audience as well as the content of their posts.
Businesses would not be eligible for this paid subscription at this stage.