The Facebook and Instagram parent company, Meta owner and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on Sunday (February 19) announced that it will launch a paid subscription which will allow users to verify their accounts. This comes weeks after Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced a similar service for the microblogging platform. The company has also ensured that there will be no changes to the accounts on Facebook or Instagram which are already verified.
The rollout of this plan will begin in Australia and New Zealand this week allowing the two social media platform users to verify their 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,” said Zuckerberg. He added, “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services.”
According to reports, the Meta Verified includes extra protection against impersonation and the subscription bundle for Instagram and Facebook will be priced at $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month on iOS and Android. Notably, the Meta Verified will not be available to businesses while the tech giant has also said that only people 18 and above will be allowed to subscribe to the service in question.
This comes as Meta like Twitter has also been struggling with financial difficulties and announced mass layoffs with additional firings on the horizon, as per reports. Last year, Zuckerberg also dubbed 2023 as the “year of efficiency”. Last month, the microblogging platform announced Twitter Blue priced at $11 per month.
After facing massive losses in 2022, in November, the tech giant announced that it is firing 11,000 employees or 13 per cent of its workforce. On the other hand, Facebook also announced that its number of daily users hit two billion for the first time. However, earlier this month, Meta also reported its first annual sales drop since it went public in 2012 but after last year’s fall, the company’s stock is said to have recovered some this year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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