Meta introduces a brand new paid verification subscription service for Instagram and Fb customers

Visitors take photos in front of the Meta (Facebook) sign at their headquarters in Menlo Park, California on December 29, 2022.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Meta is launching a new paid verification subscription service called Meta Verified, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in an Instagram update on Sunday.

For $11.99 per month on web and $14.99 per month on iOS, users on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook platforms can submit their government ID and receive a blue verification badge. The service will launch in Australia and New Zealand this week, and more countries will follow, Zuckerberg said.

“This new feature is all about increasing the authenticity and security of our services,” Zuckerberg wrote in the post.

Meta has historically granted verification to notable users such as politicians, executives, members of the press, and organizations to signal their legitimacy. The company’s new subscription service is similar to Twitter’s revamped service called Twitter Blue, which also grants users a verification badge if they pay a monthly fee.

Twitter launched its updated Twitter Blue subscription service in December after the company’s new owner, Elon Musk, pulled and delayed the initial launch. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, said the new verification system will be “the great leveler” and “empower people.”

Twitter Blue briefly launched in November, but it was shut down after users abused the new paid option by impersonating celebrities and brands.

A Meta spokesman said Sunday that Meta Verified subscriptions come with impersonation protections. To qualify, users must be at least 18 years old, meet minimum account activity requirements, and provide government-issued ID that matches their profile name and photo. According to the spokesperson, the subscriptions will also include “proactive monitoring” for account impersonation.

Musk has been open about his intention to remove badges from Twitter accounts that were verified prior to the launch of Twitter Blue, but Meta will not make any changes to accounts that have already been verified while the company tests its service, a spokesman said .

Companies are not currently eligible to apply for Meta Verified, and the company said users cannot change their profile name, username, date of birth, or profile photo without going through the application process again.