Meta India has introduced a paid verification system for users of Instagram and Facebook. The manner in which the company is going about it is different from what Twitter has done.
After months of being in trial phase, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — via his Instagram Broadcasts channel — has said the new verification system is now available in India, the UK and Canada. It will also be introduced in Brazil very soon. Those verifying on iOS and Android in India will pay Rs 699 a month while the web purchase option will soon be available for Rs 599. It’s slightly less than what users in the US are paying — $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month on mobile. A verified badge on Instagram or Facebook will confirm the identity of a person against a government ID. It will offer more protection from impersonation with “proactive account monitoring for impersonators who might target people with growing online audiences”.
There will also be help for common account-related issues. What Meta is doing differently than Twitter is retaining existing blue checkmarks. When the revamped Twitter Blue plan was unveiled, most verified users lost their blue check marks (unless they reportedly had over a million followers). That will not be the case with Meta. “We’ll also retain the verified badge for accounts that were verified before the introduction of Meta Verified. These accounts passed through a set of criteria to confirm their authentic presence and may be more susceptible to impersonation than the average user.
So, it’s important we maintain the verified badge to protect their accounts and the people that engage with them,” said Meta in a statement. At the moment, if a person has a legacy verified Twitter account, there is just a mention of the date on which the account was originally verified. As of March, Twitter Blue reportedly made $11 million on mobile during its first three months on the market.
Meta has said that it wants to build a subscription offering that’s “valuable to everyone, including creators, businesses, and our community at large”. The verification system is being expanded so more people can “trust that the accounts they interact with are authentic”. Businesses will not be eligible for Meta Verified at the moment.