After seeing the impersonation problems that Elon Musk saw when re-launching Twitter Blue, Mark Zuckerberg is going to set guardrails ahead of launching Meta Verified.

This week, Meta has announced its subscription plan, expected to be available in the next few days for users in New Zealand and Australia. If you pay for Meta Verified, you won't be able to change your profile name, username, date of birth, or photo. Any such attempt from your side will be blocked by the company. If you need to change any of the above, you will have to unsubscribe and apply again.

At this time, Meta Verified only supports your real name on your profile. With a verified profile, you will not be able to change the name on your profile, the username, birthday, or photo on your profile without applying to Meta Verified again, explained a company blog post.

A Meta spokesperson tells TechCrunch that the tech giant is working on a "fast follow feature" that will allow switching any of the above through a verification process without needing a cancelation of the subscription.

Second, one needs to be at least 18 years old, to have two-factor authentication on and an ID from the government which matches a photo account on Facebook or Instagram when subscribing to Meta Verified. In addition, some basic activity requirements need to be met, such as having posted recently. The company promised to publish detailed requirements as the paid plan is going live this week.

Meta also said some things about its plan for the verification badge. It said at the moment, "the blue badge will look the same as we evolve the meaning of the badge to focus on authenticity." The company said it will show the follower count of legacy verified accounts in more places to distinguish them from Meta Verified accounts.

For example, when two accounts share the same name, you will see the follower count of the legacy verified account in search. It is not at all evident how easy that might be to catch for an average user skimming through screens quickly. Users may also not view a follower count while going through posts. It could be confusing between a Meta Verified account and a popular account. This we have already seen with Twitter, although the social network had drawn boundaries to prevent impersonation, bad-faith actors found loopholes in the system.

The image and photo-sharing platform late Thursday updated its support page for verified badges with a new description that says the badge could be used to find real accounts of people. Earlier, the description noted that the badge is a mark of "real accounts of public figures.".

"The verified badge is a way to help people find the authentic accounts of people and brands. If an account has the verified badge, we've authenticated that it represents who it claims to be. A verified badge isn't an indicator of importance, authority, or expertise in a particular matter," the new description reads.

The key benefit for Meta Verified is increased reach for paid users. Paired with verification, it could spark all kinds of problems, from amplifying hate speech or misinformation. So it will be important to monitor user reactions to the new subscription product in New Zealand and Australia.

According to Meta, all posts from paid users will have to comply with the content guidelines of the company, in order to prevent misinformation. Additionally, the company will take immediate actions against harmful postings.
 ""All Meta Verified subscribers and their content must comply with all of our policies, including the Facebook Community Standards, Facebook Terms of Use, Instagram Community Guidelines, Instagram Terms of Use, and Meta Advertising Standards.". If there is a violation, we quickly act on the harmful activity, and maintain policies against certain forms of harmful misinformation while striving to slow the spread of hoaxes and viral misinformation," added a Meta spokesperson.