Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, has today announced plans for a subscription tier, offering account verification with government ID, a verified blue checkmark for Facebook and Instagram, and “direct access to customer support”.
The subscription plan called Meta Verified will cost $11.99/month if bought on the web, and $14.99 if bought through Facebook or Instagram’s iOS app, reflecting Apple’s 30% commission.
Meta Verified will be launching first to Facebook users in Australia and New Zealand this week, before rolling out to other countries “soon”.
In his announcement post, Zuckerberg said the initiative is designed to increase authenticity. Unlike Twitter’s similar offering, Meta Verified requires users to provide government ID for identity authentication as part of sign up.
When Elon Musk launched the paid-for blue checkmark on Twitter, he threatened to remove existing verified user status from accounts that already had been given a checkmark for their notoriety. However, several months on, that still hasn’t happened. Reports indicate only about 290,000 Twitter users have subscribed to Twitter Blue since launch.
Most recently, Twitter has announced that SMS two-factor authentication method is being removed from non-premium accounts. It also wants to introduce a gold checkmark for business accounts, with an even higher associated monthly cost.
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