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The platform’s verification decision is in contrast to Twitter, which is facing a backlash from media organisations after giving them ‘government-funded’ labels.
In a counter to other social media sites, LinkedIn is rolling out a free verification system to let users prove their identity.
LinkedIn has partnered with secure identity platform Clear to provide verification for US members. Users need to provide a government-issued ID and phone number for this service.
Users will be able to verify where they work by submitting their company-issued email address and entering a verification code. The feature currently works for more than 4,000 companies on the platform.
Alternatively, LinkedIn is also making the Microsoft Entra Verified ID platform available at the end of the month, to issue free digital workplace IDs for eligible users.
“While all LinkedIn members globally won’t have access to these verification options immediately, we will expand availability and ways for you to participate over time,” LinkedIn said in a blog post.
Verification has become a hot topic for social media sites in recent months, as Twitter has taken measures to shift its previous verification system to a paid subscription model.
This subscription model is one of the major changes Elon Musk has pushed since he took over the platform, though the roll-out of this feature has had its challenges.
Following in Twitter’s footsteps, Meta has been developing its own paid subscription service that gives users a verified blue badge and other features not available to free users.
The move by Microsoft-owned LinkedIn appears to be a counter to these recent developments, as the company’s announcement begins with “authenticity matters”.
“We believe verification should be for everyone on LinkedIn, that’s why every feature will be available and free to all our members,” the company said.
Twitter faces media backlash
Meanwhile, several media companies have publicly responded to recently being labelled as “government-funded” or “state-affiliated” on Twitter.
The US media organisation NPR (National Public Radio) announced it will no longer post fresh content on its Twitter feeds, due to being labelled as “state-affiliated media” on the platform last week.
This term has been previously used for propaganda outlets in Russia, China and other autocratic countries. The NPR label has since been changed to “government-funded media”.
Since then, US broadcaster PBS has also decided to stop posting content on Twitter after being labelled as “government-funded media”, Axios reports.
The UK’s BBC was also listed as “government funded media”, but this label was recently changed to “publicly funded”.
Musk appears to be taking a swing at media groups on Twitter. While the platform has postponed the removal of legacy verification checkmarks, Musk removed the badge from The New York Times after he heard it did not plan to pay for verification.
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