CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that Threads, Meta’s rival to Twitter, is now accessible in the European Union. Zuckerberg announced on Threads that “We’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe today.” The service’s introduction comes after its July 2023 debut in the US and more than 100 other nations, including the UK. However, Threads has not yet been made available to the 448 million residents of the European Union; in fact, the business has prohibited users residing in the EU from using a VPN to access the site.
In conjunction with the launch today, Meta is enabling users in the area to browse Threads without requiring a profile. However, an Instagram account is still necessary to upload or engage with material. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the relocation.
The Digital Markets Act, a comprehensive piece of legislation intended to curb Big Tech abuses and level the playing field, was recently introduced in the EU, and this has been widely cited as the reason for the company’s delay in offering the service in those countries. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri attributed the delay to “the complexities of complying with some of the laws coming into effect next year,” even though Meta hasn’t specifically mentioned the regulation. Businesses that the DMA designates as “gatekeepers,” like Meta, have until March 2024 to abide by its regulations.
There have been rumors that Thread’s close relationship with Instagram may cause issues with EU regulators. Users may instantly connect with everyone they followed on Instagram by using their pre-existing Instagram accounts to sign up when it launched in July 2023. While Threads was able to quickly reach 100 million users in a matter of days thanks to this decreased friction, there were worries that Meta would violate the DMA’s regulations prohibiting self-preferencing.
Compared to when Instagram first launched, threads aren’t quite as closely entwined with it now. The feature to cancel a Threads account without also deleting an Instagram account was added by the platform in mid-November. However, there are still links between the services, and posting on the platform still requires an Instagram account.
Although Threads gained popularity fast, in part because it capitalized on the upheaval at Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) and tapped into Instagram’s following, third-party data indicates that Meta’s platform has had trouble holding onto users after its first upswing. There will undoubtedly be a surge in new users after its EU launch; the question is if Threads has improved and introduced enough new features to keep people interested.
