The rumors had been true: Fb guardian firm Meta is making ready to launch a Twitter Blue-like subscription known as Meta Verified. On Sunday morning, Mark Zuckerberg took to his newly launched broadcast channel to share the information. He mentioned the subscription service would give customers a blue badge, further impersonation safety and direct entry to buyer help. “This function is about rising authenticity and safety throughout our providers,” Zuckerberg mentioned, including Meta would check the subscription first in Australia and New Zealand earlier than rolling it out to different nations. Meta Verified will price $15 USD per thirty days when customers subscribe via the corporate’s apps on iOS and Android. On the internet, the place app retailer commissions do not apply, the service will price $12 USD per thirty days. The subscription will cowl each Instagram and Fb accounts. 

Customers will want want to fulfill sure eligibility necessities earlier than they’ll join Meta Verified. Particularly, the corporate informed Engadget the subscription will solely be accessible to customers 18 years or older. Meta may also require that potential subscribers share a government-issued ID that matches the profile identify and picture on their Fb or Instagram account. When you’re verified, you possibly can’t change your profile identify, username, date of beginning or picture with out going via the verification course of once more. Accounts that had been verified earlier than at this time’s announcement attributable to their notability will stay verified.

Alongside perks like a blue badge and elevated visibility in search, Meta will present Verified subscribers with 100 free stars, a digital forex they’ll use to tip creators on Fb. The subscription additionally comes with entry to unique stickers to be used in Tales and Reels. Rumors that Meta was making ready to trial a paid verification service began to swirl at the start of February when reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi found code referencing “paid blue badge” and “identification verification.” On early Sunday morning, social media marketing consultant and former Subsequent Net reporter Matt Navarra discovered that Meta had printed an Instagram help web page detailing the subscription, solely to later take it down earlier than Zuckerberg’s Instagram put up.