LinkedIn has verified over 55 million of its users for free to combat the spread of misinformation fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence, the company confirmed to CNBC.
The Microsoft-owned platform claims to have the highest number of verified individual human identities among major social networks. Starting in November, LinkedIn will display user verification badges in the main LinkedIn feed.
“With the increasing difficulty in distinguishing real from fake content, such as deep-fake videos and photos, we believe that combating misinformation and fake expertise is a significant challenge,” said Oscar Rodriguez, LinkedIn’s vice president of trust and safety.
LinkedIn initiated user verification in April 2023, following the lead of social media platform X, which required users to subscribe to its premium service for verification badges. This move also came shortly after Meta introduced Meta Verified, a subscription service for Facebook and Instagram users to obtain verification badges.
Social networks are intensifying their efforts to eliminate fraudulent activity, including scams and misinformation, from their platforms. The emergence of generative AI technology since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022 has facilitated the creation of fake accounts and content on social media.
While other platforms are charging users for verification, LinkedIn is offering free verification and aims to have 100 million users verified by 2025 through a two-pronged strategy.
For users employed by large companies, LinkedIn verifies them through their corporate email addresses. This feature is currently available to employees at certain companies, but LinkedIn is exploring ways to expand this verification method.
The other verification method involves users submitting their government IDs through partners such as Clear, Persona, and, for Indian users, DigiLocker.
LinkedIn covers the costs of verification services provided by its partners, not disclosing the exact amount but acknowledging it as a substantial investment.
“Understanding the authenticity of individuals will be crucial for the future of the internet,” said Rodriguez. “We aim to make verification widely accessible to build a trusted community on LinkedIn.”
Only a small fraction of LinkedIn’s 1 billion-plus members have been verified.
Verification is crucial
Even before the advent of generative AI, fake accounts posed a challenge for LinkedIn. Spoof accounts of prominent tech figures like Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg have surfaced. LinkedIn claims to remove 99% of fake profiles before users encounter them on the platform.
Previously, users could distinguish between fake and authentic profiles based on work experience and photos, according to Gyanda Sachdeva, LinkedIn’s vice president of consumer products.
“In a world where AI can generate photos easily, verification becomes a vital signal for a platform centered on professional connections and networking,” she explained.
Meta recently announced testing facial recognition technology to prevent users from using celebrities’ likenesses to scam others on its services.
LinkedIn is expanding verification beyond individual users to include job listings and company pages.
Verified profiles on LinkedIn tend to attract more views, connection requests, and engagement compared to non-verified profiles.
LinkedIn is cautious in its verification process, ensuring a high standard for verified users, such as verifying when a user’s professional name matches the name on their government ID.
“We prefer to err on the side of caution by potentially not verifying someone rather than verifying someone incorrectly,” Rodriguez emphasized.
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