Last November, Twitter launched a similar service, allowing its subscribers to authenticate their accounts by paying an eight-dollar monthly fee and receiving benefits such as "direct access to customer service."

This week, Facebook's parent company Meta will launch its paid verification system for Instagram and Facebook users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last Sunday.

Meta Verified is "a subscription service that lets you 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," the CEO wrote, adding that the service will launch in New Zealand and Australia as early as this week and will cost $11.99/month on the web and $14.99/month on Apple's iOS. Other countries will get the service later.

This decision comes at a time when the social media giant is going through a difficult financial time. At the end of 2022, the company announced a major layoff plan involving 11,000 people worldwide, or 13% of its workforce. Recently, the Financial Times reported that the company is preparing a new restructuring plan that would start in March 2023.

The new feature aims to increase the authenticity and security of the group's services, according to Mark Zuckerberg. Thus, in addition to the blue tick as a guarantee of security, Meta Verified users will benefit from, among other things, increased visibility and reach on Instagram and Facebook, as well as exclusive stickers.

"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 that the accounts they interact with are authentic," Meta explained in a blog post.

Samira Njoya