Meta launching paid verification system for Facebook and Instagram
CBSN
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced Sunday it will begin rolling out a paid subscription program allowing users and businesses to verify their accounts with a blue badge.
In a Facebook post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new verification system, called "Meta Verified," will cost $11.99 month on web or $14.99 a month for iPhone users.
The announcement comes after Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla founder and owner of Twitter, created a paid-for verification system known as Twitter Blue after taking over the company last year. Twitter also announced Friday that users who do not subscribe to Twitter Blue will soon have to give up using text messages as a two-factor authentication method to secure their accounts, and instead must use other verification methods.

The race to fill the seat of retiring Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin has been heating up in the days leading up to Tuesday's 2026 Democratic primary and could set the tone for other midterm primaries on issues like President Trump's deportation policies and outside spending. And another factor in the race is Gov. JB Pritzker's attempt at powerbrokering: he's given his endorsement and millions in campaign funds to his lieutenant governor, Julianna Stratton. In:

A man who was accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the eve of the Jan. 6 attack in 2021 is asking a judge to dismiss the criminal charges against him, arguing he is covered by President Trump's sweeping pardons of alleged Jan. 6 rioters.

The Cuban government is planning to allow Cuban nationals who live abroad — including in the U.S. — to invest in companies on the island, a top government official told NBC News in an interview that aired Monday, as the country faces economic collapse and immense pressure from the Trump administration.










