After its launch in more than 100 countries, including the US and UK, in mid-2023 Meta’s Twitter rival has reached the EU and its 448,000 citizens.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, announced that Threads, its Twitter competitor, is now available to users in the European Union. In a thread , Zuckerberg announced that Threads would be available in more European countries. The service was launched in July 2023 in the US, and in over 100 countries around the world. This includes the UK. However, until now Threads was not available to 448 million EU residents. The company even prevented EU users from using VPN.
Meta has launched a new feature that allows users to browse threads without requiring a profile. To post or interact with content, you will still need an Instagram account. Wall Street Journal first reported the move.
Meta hasn’t named the regulation directly, but Instagram head Adam Mosseri blamed the delay on “the complexities of complying with some of the laws coming into effect next year.” Instagram’s Adam Mosseri, who is the head of at Instagram, blamed the delay to “the complexity with complying” with laws that will be in effect next year. Companies like Meta, designated as “gatekeepers” under the DMA, to quickly reach 100 million users within a few days, but it also raised concerns about Meta’s ability to run afoul rules from the DMA against self-preferencing.
The relationship between Instagram and Threads is not as strong as it used to be at the time of launch. In mid-November the platform introduced the option for users to remove their Threads account, without having to also delete their Instagram account. The links between the two services are still there; Instagram is required to post.
Third-party data suggests that Meta’s platform has struggled to maintain users following its initial surge. The EU launch of Threads will most likely bring in a surge of new users. However, the question is if Threads has improved and added new features to keep them.