BRUSSELS: Facebook owner Meta’s text-based app Threads finally arrived in the European Union on Thursday, months after its global launch in July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Threads is a spin-off of the Instagram photo app and is intended to be a rival to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welcome everyone,” Zuckerberg said on Threads.
Until now, Threads has remained unavailable to the 448 million residents of the European Union (EU), and Meta has gone as far as blocking EU-based users from accessing the service via VPN.
While not officially confirmed by Meta, the company’s decision to delay the service’s launch in EU countries is widely attributed to the “anticipated regulatory uncertainty.” This delay aligns with the recent introduction of the Digital Markets Act, a comprehensive legislative measure aimed at curbing Big Tech abuses and fostering fair competition, which took effect in August.
In response to potential regulatory breaches and to circumvent penalties, Meta unveiled plans to introduce subscription services across most of Europe. These services would eliminate advertisements from all Meta platforms, addressing concerns raised by the EU. This announcement followed Meta’s €390 million ($426 million) fine in January for violating EU data regulations related to ads.
Despite the initial enthusiasm surrounding Threads’ launch and a record-breaking number of sign-ups in its first two weeks, Meta reported a decline in its user base. The forthcoming EU launch is likely to attract a surge of new users, but experts raise questions about whether Threads has undergone sufficient evolution and introduced new features since its launch to retain this expanded user base.
With AFP
