(CMR) Meta is introducing a new paid verification subscription service called Meta Verified, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Sunday.
Meta's Instagram and Facebook users will be able to submit their government ID and get a blue verification badge for $11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 a month on iOS.
Zuckerberg said the service would be introduced in Australia and New Zealand this week and in other countries later.
“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post.
There would be no changes to accounts that are already verified. Meta previously granted verification to notable users like politicians, executives, and organizations to signal their legitimacy.
“We are evolving the meaning of the blue badge to focus on authenticity so we can expand verification access to more people. 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,” a Meta spokesperson told CNN.
The new subscription service is similar to Twitter's Blue subscription service, which was launched in December after new owner Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion.
Meta said there are impersonation protections in place with Meta Verified subscriptions. 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.
Businesses are not currently eligible to apply for Meta Verified, and users cannot change their profile name, username, date of birth, or profile photo without going through the application process again.
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