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Elon Musk turned out to be a trendsetter.
This weekend, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will be following in Twitter’s footsteps to roll out a paid subscription plan that will allow customers to get verified checkmarks on Facebook and Instagram. The service is appropriately named “Meta Verified.”
Along with a monthly fee, users must submit a government ID to help confirm the person behind the account is who they say they are.
The rollout will begin in Australia and New Zealand before expanding globally.
“Good morning and new product announcement: 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,” Zuckerberg announced.
“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services. Meta Verified starts at $11.99 / month on web or $14.99 / month on iOS. We’ll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week and more countries soon.”
There will be no changes or fees for accounts that have previously been verified.
“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, via CNN. “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.”
Users must also be above 18 to be eligible.
