BIZ

Insta, FB users able to pay for blue tick

Published

2 years ago

February 21, 2023

editor

Instagram and Facebook users will now be able to pay for a blue tick verification, parent company Meta has announced.

Meta Verified will cost $11.99 (£9.96) a month on web, or $14.99 for iPhone users.

It will be available in Australia and New Zealand this week.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta chief executive, said the move will improve security and authenticity on the social media apps.

The move comes after Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, implemented the premium Twitter Blue subscription in November 2022.

Meta’s paid subscription service is not yet available for businesses, but any individual can pay for verification.

Badges – or “blue ticks”- have been used as verification tools for high-profile accounts to signify their authenticity.

The subscription would give paying users a blue badge, increased visibility of their posts, protection from impersonators and easier access to customer service, Meta said in a post on their website.

The company told the BBC the change would not affect previously verified accounts, but noted there would be an increase in visibility for some smaller users who become verified thanks to the paid feature.

Allowing paying users access to a blue tick has previously caused trouble for other social media platforms.

Twitter’s pay-for verification feature was paused last November when people started impersonating big brands and celebrities by paying for the badge.

Meta said Instagram and Facebook usernames will have to match a government supplied ID document to be granted verification, and users will have to have a profile picture that includes their face.

Other websites like Reddit, YouTube and Discord similarly use subscription-based models.

Meta has not yet specified when the feature will be rolled out to other countries, although Mr Zuckerberg said in a post it would be “soon”.

In November, the company announced 11,000 job losses as a result of over-investment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the time, Mr Zuckerberg said he had predicted an increase in Meta’s growth based on the rise it had over the pandemic, but that ultimately did not happen.

“Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration,” he wrote, “I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments.”

Instead he said “macroeconomic downturn” and “increased competition” caused revenue to be much lower than expected.

“I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that,” he said at the time.

(BBC News)

BIZ

Import tax on potatoes & big onions upped

Published

1 day ago

October 6, 2024

editor

The Ministry of Finance has announced an increase in the special import tax on potatoes and big onions.

The import tax on potatoes has risen by Rs. 10 per kilogram, from Rs. 50 to Rs. 60. Similarly, the import tax on big onions has been raised by Rs. 20 per kilogram, from Rs. 10 to Rs. 30.

These measures have been implemented to regulate imports and support local agriculture.

BIZ

Laugfs gas prices to remain unchanged

Published

3 days ago

October 4, 2024

editor

Laugfs Gas PLC announced that the company will not revise domestic LP gas prices for the month of October.

This was communicated by the Cluster Director/CEO of Laugfs Gas PLC, Dr. Niroshan J Peiris.

Earlier, Litro Gas had also announced that gas prices will remain unchanged during the month of October.

BIZ

PickMe shares enters CSE for debut trading

Published

4 days ago

October 3, 2024

editor

Shares of leading mobility solutions app, PickMe owner Digital Mobility Solutions Lanka Ltd., will debut today for trading at the Colombo Stock Exchange following its highly successful Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The shares of the Company amounting to 333, 323, 673 would be listed on the Main Board of the CSE with Security Code PKME-N-0000 and will be classified under “20304040 – Passenger Ground Transportation.” sector.

The IPO involved issuance of shares worth Rs. 1.56 billion (43,474,179 existing ordinary voting shares at Rs. 36 each), and when it closed on the opening day itself on 13 September, the demand had been for shares worth Rs. 4.2 billion. The shareholding percentage on offer is 13.04%. There had been 866 applications requesting for 116.646 million shares worth Rs. 4.199 billion.

Ahead of today’s debut, Digital Mobility Solutions Chairman Ajit Gunewardene said: “We are thrilled to mark this pivotal moment as our company goes public, as we bring our vision of technology enabled, accessible, reliable mobility to even more communities. This listing represents not only a milestone for us, but a commitment to pioneering digital inclusion using advanced technology across Sri Lanka.”

CEO Jiffry Zulfer said: “PickMe will offer investors a new dimension, exposure into the digital economy. We will be the first and at this point in time the only technology company of scale to be listed on the CSE. It has been an exciting journey so far and having reached an inflection point, we are confident that we can continue to generate strong profitable growth. Our long term goal is for our app to become ubiquitous in everyday life. We have the team and the skills to execute this.”

(ft.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by ft.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)