Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has started offering a paid verification service in the UK that gives users a blue tick on their profiles for £9.99 per month.
The service, called Meta Verified, is similar to Twitter Blue, the premium subscription launched by Elon Musk last year. It aims to provide users with more protection from impersonation and more visibility on the platforms.
To get a verified badge, users must be at least 18 years old and submit a government ID and a selfie video to Meta. The feature is already available in the US, Australia and New Zealand, and will gradually roll out to more users in the UK in the coming weeks.
Meta says verified users will also get “access to a real person” if they have any issue with their account, and they will receive increased visibility on the platforms.
The move comes after Twitter’s verification system caused controversy when Mr Musk removed blue ticks from some high-profile accounts that did not pay for Twitter Blue, leading to confusion and impersonation.
Meta says it will not scrap its existing verification system for notable figures, which is free and based on account and eligibility requirements. However, the decision to add a paid tier is a change of direction for Facebook and Instagram, which have been free to use since their inception.
The company says it is looking for other ways of monetising its platforms, after announcing 11,000 job losses in November 2022 due to over-investment during the pandemic.
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