Influencer backlash as Instagram allows Australian users to buy blue verification marks in an ‘absolutely outrageous’ move
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Australian influencers who have worked hard on Instagram verification have criticized the Meta platform’s move to allow anyone to buy blue checks.
A former Married At First Sight star, who campaigned for years to get a blue check back when Instagram had to approve all verified accounts, called the decision “absolutely outrageous” and an insult to real celebrities.
Nasser Sultan, 55, posted an irate video on Tuesday calling out Instagram.
“I worked for three years to get mine and now you can just buy it. The blue check mark means nothing now,’ he said.
Instead, he proposed a tiered system in which “real celebrities” are upgraded to a gold badge, while those who buy verification get a standard blue check mark.
MAFS star Nasser Sultan (pictured), who spent three years campaigning to get a blue check mark on Instagram, has criticized the website’s “outrageous” decision to allow users to buy verification
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last month that Instagram is rolling out a new paid verification subscription service called Meta Verified.
Soon users will be able to pay $20 per month on the web and $25 on iOS to become verified users, which will include a blue verification badge.
Sultan said influencers’ credibility would be damaged by this move, which allows anyone to become one simply by paying the fee.
“Now anyone can buy that blue check and pretend to be an influencer. It’s un-Australian,’ he said.
Sultan said influencers’ credibility would be damaged by this move, which allows anyone to become one simply by paying the fee
Fellow MAFS star Rhyce Power also protested the decision, saying he had seen people who aren’t public figures buy blue ticks for clout.
It comes after Sultan was caught in the act of buying about 40,000 fake followers.
The 55-year-old has 91,400 followers on the social media platform, but it was discovered in September that nearly half of them are bots.
The former personal trainer’s following grew by more than 40,000 people from August 2021 to August 2022, reported Yahoo lifestyle.
Instagram users can purchase thousands of bot profiles to follow for just $40 in an effort to make themselves appear more popular.
Fellow MAFS star Rhyce Power (pictured) also protested the decision, saying he had seen people who are not public figures buy blue ticks for influence
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