Meta to offer verified accounts on Facebook and Instagram


Facebook-parent Meta plans to start offering users verified blue badges and direct customer-support access for $11.99 a month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Sunday.
"This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services," Zuckerberg wrote in posts on Facebook and Instagram, which Meta also owns. Users will have to submit a government ID to prove their identity to be eligible for the service, Meta Verified. However, users need to enroll separately for their Facebook and Instagram accounts, meaning the feature on both apps will cost $24 a month. The paid status will give subscribers "extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you," Zuckerberg said.
The service, similar to programs at Twitter and Snap, became available in Australia and New Zealand last week and will be expanded to the United States within several weeks.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 16, 2025
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - Trump's medical exam, student loan debt, and more
By The Week US
-
Christian dramas are having a moment
Under The Radar Biblical stories are being retold as 'bingeable' seven-season shows
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Money dysmorphia: why people think they're poorer than they are
In The Spotlight Wealthy people and the young are more likely to have distorted perceptions
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Meta on trial: What will become of Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire?
Today's Big Question Despite the CEO's attempt to ingratiate himself with Trump, Meta is on trial, accused by the U.S. government of breaking antitrust law
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
What does an ex-executive's new memoir reveal about Meta's free speech pivot?
Today's Big Question 'Careless People' says Facebook was ready to do China censorship
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
What's Mark Zuckerberg's net worth?
In Depth The Meta magnate's products are a part of billions of lives
By David Faris
-
Space-age living: The race for robot servants
Feature Meta and Apple compete to bring humanoid robots to market
By The Week US
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Big tech's big pivot
Opinion How Silicon Valley's corporate titans learned to love Trump
By Theunis Bates