JAKARTA - An Indian social media application, a competitor to Twitter, Koo, has just introduced a self-verification service to its users. Koo is the only one in the world that has this kind of service.

This is certainly not uncommon, but is believed to bring credibility and trust to Koo. Users can self-verify their profile in just seconds using a government-approved identity card.

Users will be able to verify themselves on Koo by linking their account to a unique biometric number from the Aadhaar digital identity database in New Delhi. They will receive a one time password on their Aadhaar registered phone number for authentication.

Co-founder and chief executive of Koo Aprameya Radhakrishna, this feature is designed to curb anonymous spammers, bots and trolling.

Radhakrishna said Koo would also work with third-party companies to verify users and would not store user IDs. This will prevent startups from sharing users' personal data with law enforcement agencies.

The move also positions Koo, which operates in 10 Indian languages and has been downloaded more than 30 million times to become a more attractive platform among advertisers as they will have the option to reach only users who have verified themselves.

Later, users who verify themselves will get a green tick in their name when commenting on a post.

“This will mentally give their input in the conversation more weight. Posts and comments from verified users can eventually rank better on the platform," said Radhakrishna as quoted from TechCrunch, Thursday, April 7.

Koo is quite different in providing verification badges, usually other social media only provide this feature for celebrities and other influential public figures. For the record, no other social media platform in the world has taken a step like this.

Moreover, it is also part of a broader effort by Koo to proactively address the challenges that have plagued established social media companies Twitter and Facebook.

Lastly, Radhakrishna also stated Koo is evaluating new ways including web3 to make money on the platform.


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