Months after Twitter launched its Twitter Blue service, Meta announced it is testing a premium service that will charge for certain upgrades.
Like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram users in Australia and New Zealand will soon be able to buy a verified checkmark.
The new service will cost $11.99 a month for web users and $14.99 for mobile app customers. Meta said the service offers additional protection against impersonation. Users would have to provide a copy of a government ID to seek a verification badge.
Currently, verification on Facebook and Instagram is free but only offered to those that Meta considered “notable.” Meta said that those with verified accounts will maintain their verified status.
Meta said the service is only open to individuals and not businesses.
“Long term, we want to build a subscription offering that’s valuable to everyone, including creators, businesses and our community at large,” Meta said. “As part of this vision, we are evolving the meaning of the verified badge so we can expand access to verification and more people can trust the accounts they interact with are authentic.”
It is unclear whether Facebook and Instagram would continue giving free verification to notable accounts.
The use of verification badges came after websites like Facebook and Twitter encountered issues with impersonation accounts.
Twitter initially had to halt its Twitter Blue service late last year when users could obtain verification badges without providing identification.