Description
Facebook and Instagram users in the United States will soon be able to pay to get a coveted blue check on their account, CNN Business reported. Meta on Friday began testing a paid verification option for US users of the two social networks, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Instagram. The company plans to gradually roll out the paid option to more US users in the coming weeks. First tested in February in Australia and New Zealand, Meta Verified starts at $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 per month on mobile. In addition to verification, the option offers benefits such as additional protection against account spoofing and direct access to customer support, CNN Business reported.
To avoid fake accounts, customers who want to earn the blue badge must provide a government ID that matches their profile name and photo. Users must also be over the age of 18 to be eligible for the new service, according to CNN Business.
"This new feature is aimed at increasing the authenticity and security of our services," Zuckerberg wrote in February on an Instagram broadcast channel.
Meta joins other platforms, such as Discord, Reddit, and YouTube, which have their own subscription models. CNN Business said Twitter relaunched its own verification subscription service, Twitter Blue, in December after an outbreak of fake "verified" accounts forced it to pull the feature. Twitter Blue costs $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers, part of owner Elon Musk's bid to boost his subscription business after buying the platform for $44 billion.
For Meta, the move offers the promise of another source of revenue beyond advertising, at a time when its core business of ad sales is under pressure from a number of factors, including privacy changes from Apple and tightening budgets amid recession fears, CNN Business said on Saturday. .
