People who use the popular social media apps Instagram and Facebook will soon have the option to pay for blue tick verification, parent company Meta announced.
In a statement posted to his own Facebook account, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that the new service will begin being tested in Australia and New Zealand this week, however, it is anticipated that the feature will be rolled out to "more countries soon".
Verification will cost $11.99 (€11.20) a month on the web or for iPhone and for Android users it will cost $14.99 (€14).
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According to Meta, the new subscription will offer:
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- A verified badge, confirming you’re the real you and that your account has been authenticated with a government ID
- More protection from impersonation with proactive account monitoring for impersonators who might target people with growing online audiences
- Help when you need it with access to a real person for common account issues
- Increased visibility and reach with prominence in some areas of the platform; like search, comments and recommendations
In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg wrote: "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.
"This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services."
This move by Meta to charge for verification comes just one month after rival social media platform Twitter announced Twitter Blue, a verification service which costs users $11 (€10.20).
Twitter and Meta are not the only apps to charge for this service, Snapchat and messaging app Telegram have also launched paid subscriptions in recent years.
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