Mark Zuckerberg said this weekend that Meta is rolling out paid verification for Facebook and Instagram. On posts on each platform Sunday, the Meta CEO explained that the Meta Verified subscription service will have have a monthly fee of $11.99 on the web, or $14.99 per month on mobile.
The service is aimed primarily at content creators, who will get increased reach and visibility at a time when it’s harder to stand out on Meta’s platforms.
Zuckerberg described Meta Verified as 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,” he added.
The service will launch in Australia and New Zealand this week end then roll out to other countries.
Meta added it won’t make changes to accounts verified using its previous requirements, which include authenticity and notability.
Meta Verified resembles the Twitter Blue service that Twitter launched in December, following Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of the social network. That service, which has been slow to take off, had to be paused then relaunched with some tweaks after trolls used it to impersonate brands and celebrities, causing trouble for drugmaker Eli Lilly and others.