Facebook and Instagram testing paid subscription service similar to Twitter's



Facebook and Instagram are testing a Twitter Blue-esque subscription service called Meta Verified, parent company Meta's Mark Zuckerberg announced Sunday.

"This week, we're starting to roll out Meta Verified -- a subscription service that lets you verify your account ... this new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services," Meta's CEO said via his freshly-launched Instagram broadcast "Meta Channel," accessible on mobile devices.

For $11.99 a month on the web or $14.99 a month on iOS and Android apps, purchasers will enjoy a badge, impersonation protection, access to a "real person" for help with account issues, increased visibility and reach, and yet-to-be-specified "exclusive features to express yourself in unique ways," according to Meta's press release on the new product.

Meta Verified will be available to users in Australia and New Zealand later this week, the release also said.

Meta Verified comes with multiple strings attached. To be eligible, users must be at least 18 years old and present a government ID that matches the profile name and photo of their Facebook or Instagram accounts. Accounts also must meet a minimum activity requirement such as posting history.

Meta may have learned from one of Twitter's mistakes. Meta's subscription service includes "proactive monitoring for account impersonation." When Twitter first launched its subscription service, the site was flooded with posts from fake accounts impersonating Musk and other notable figures, NPR explained.

Once users take the plunge with Meta Verified, they will be locked in to the profile name, username, date of birth, and photo they chose during verification. Users who want to freshen their profile pictures would have to go through the verification process over again, Engadget noted.

Businesses are not eligible to apply for Meta Verified.

Meta may have been mulling the paid service for quite some time. In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg hinted at the potential for a paid version of Facebook in congressional testimony before a joint hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees.

"Yes, there will always be a version of Facebook that is free," Zuckerberg testified at the time.

Elon Musk, owner of social media rival Twitter, wasted no time in poking fun at Meta's move to rake in some revenue. Musk launched a similar paid service called Twitter Blue last December. He replied with a laughing face emoji to a meme depicting character Mr. Bean, as Zuckerberg, copying off Musk's paper.

\u201c@EvaFoxU \ud83e\udd23\u201d
— Eva Fox \ud83e\udd8a Claudius Nero's Legion \ud83e\udd85 (@Eva Fox \ud83e\udd8a Claudius Nero's Legion \ud83e\udd85) 1676836421

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Shanghai reportedly installs high metal barriers around people's homes to prevent them from leaving: 'They might as well just burn us all inside our homes'



The city of Shanghai is installing metal barriers around people's homes so that they are unable to go out in public, according to reports.

At least 25 million people are under an indefinite lockdown due to COVID-19 mitigation measures at the time of this reporting.

What are the details?

Local authorities have installed high fences and metal barriers outside private homes to prevent residents from leaving their homes amid the city's latest COVID-19 outbreak, reports say.

According to a report from Insider, the move has inspired anger and sadness, with one social media user quipping that the move is nothing more than a fire hazard.

"They might as well just burn us all inside our homes," the user tweeted on Chinese social media network Weibo.

Shanghai wordt nu volgezet met hekken, zodat niemand zijn huis meer uit kan en een ander kan besmetten.pic.twitter.com/qusQclgjjY
— Eva Rammeloo (@Eva Rammeloo) 1650780344

What else is there to know about this?

The BBC reported on Sunday that authorities erected many of the structures in the city's "sealed areas," in which at least one person tested positive for COVID-19.

Those living inside a sealed area are forbidden to leave their homes even if they do not have the virus.

A foreign national told the outlet that "no one can get out."

"I feel helpless," the unnamed man said. "You don't know when the lockdown is going to end."

He added, "If your area gets fenced off, what if a fire breaks out? I don't think anyone in their right mind can seal people's homes."

The BBC's report added that a video highlighting the city's dire conditions is making its way around the internet.

"The six-minute montage features unverified audio clips of the local population criticizing inadequate food supplies and complaining about medical conditions," the outlet noted. "'We haven't eaten for days now,' one person can be heard pleading in the video."

Insider reported that on Sunday, the city recorded 16,983 symptomatic COVID-19 cases and 2,472 asymptomatic cases. The BBC noted that the city recorded 39 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday.

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