You can now pay to be verified on Facebook and Instagram in the US

If you want to be verified on Facebook or Instagram, you can now pay Mark Zuckerberg some money to make it happen.

The CEO of Meta announced today that the company is rolling out paid verification for Facebook and Instagram in the United States. “Meta Verified” will allow users on each platform to pay for the coveted blue checkmark and be verified users on both social media apps.

While the blue checkmark is the main draw of paid verification, Meta is offering some other features as part of Meta Verified.

• A verified badge, confirming you’re the real you and that your account has been authenticated with a government ID.
• More protection from impersonation with proactive account monitoring for impersonators who might target people with growing online audiences.  
• Help when you need it with access to a real person for common account issues.
• Exclusive features to express yourself in unique ways. 

The company did note that “increased visibility and reach,” which is part of the Meta Verified product in Australia and New Zealand, is not yet included in the United States version at launch. It’s unclear if and when it will add it for users in the country.

I can’t imagine it won’t, especially since Twitter keeps promising the exact same benefit for Twitter Blue, its paid subscription service. Meta Verified costs $11.99 per month if you sign up on the web and $14.99 per month if you sign up through iOS or Android. Meta is obviously passing along Apple and Google’s app store tax to customers.

The news of Meta Verified launching in the United States comes in the same week that it also revealed it is bringing Messenger back into the Facebook app. Mark Zuckerberg also announced more layoffs at the company that could impact around 10,000 people.