By Jack Mendel
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta will soon role out a paid-for verification model, copying a similar move by rival social media platform Twitter.
In a bid to claw back credibility, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed he was launching a new subscription service, which promised more personal security for users, for between £10-12.50 a month.
For 11.99 dollars per month (£10) on the web or 14.99 dollars (£12.50) per month on Apple and Android operating systems, Meta will use a government identification to verify a user’s account and give it a blue badge.
The move comes as new figures show that Meta is one of the least trusted tech giants among Brits.
Figures from Forbes Adviser found 48 per cent of Brits are unhappy giving personal information to sites owned by Meta, which also owns WhatsApp.
Twitter was the third least-trusted site, with 41 per cent saying they wouldn’t be comfortable handing over personal data to the firm, according to the data based on a survey of 2,000 adults.
While 48 per cent said they did not trust Meta-owned platforms, younger people are more comfortable when it comes to sharing data with social media sites overall.
More than one in six aged between 18-34 are happy to give their data away to the likes of Instagram and TikTok, compared to just seven per cent of those between 35-54. It plummets even further to only three per cent for those over the age of 55.
The data indicates that Brits tend to trust tech giants that have been around longer, with PayPal being the most trusted at 47 per cent, followed by Amazon (41 per cent) and Microsoft (39 per cent).
“Like or not, we all exist in an era where it’s nigh-on impossible to live without sharing your personal data – even if you don’t consider yourself to be particularly ‘digital’,” said Laura Howard, at Forbes Advisor.
“But our knowledge and awareness around how to protect this data has perhaps not kept pace with the technology” she warned.
Meta and TikTok have been approached for comment.
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