Users of Facebook and Instagram must now pay N5,500 ($11.99) per month in order to use the verification badge, also known as the blue tick badge.
On February 19, 2023, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, announced this, following an identical move taken by Elon Musk at Twitter.
Meta Verified, which will roll out first in Australia and New Zealand this week, will let users “verify your 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,” Zuckerberg said.
“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” he wrote in a statement posted to his Facebook account.
The business added that verified Facebook and Instagram profiles will remain the same and that only people who are at least 18 years old would be permitted to subscribe. Businesses are not yet able to use the service.
Musk’s initial attempts to introduce a comparable service at rival social media network Twitter last year backfired horribly, scaring away advertisers and raising serious concerns about the site’s sustainability.
He was had to temporarily halt the initiative before resuming it in December to lukewarm response.
The revelation from Meta comes as the social media giant has struggled financially over the past year. In November, the firm announced it would lay off 11,000 workers, or 13 percent of its workforce, marking the largest employment reduction in its history.
The cutbacks are a part of a wave of layoffs that Silicon Valley heavyweights have recently announced as the once-untouchable industry experiences economic doom.
Meanwhile, Meta is facing criticism for taking a big chance on the metaverse, a virtual reality environment that Zuckerberg thinks will be the online space’s next frontier.
