Threads has launched in the EU.
The Meta-owned social media platform, which rivals Elon Musk's X (formally Twitter) made a debut in European Union territories yesterday (14.12.23) after its initial release five months ago.
A statement from the tech company said: "Starting today, people in the EU can choose to create a Threads profile that is connected to their Instagram account - which means they get the same experience as everyone else around the world - or use Threads without a profile."
Meta will be hoping this move will increase the popularity of the app, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that it had lost nearly half of the 100 million users that downloaded Threads only five weeks after its initial release in July.
Although the company has not formally explained why the app was delayed in the EU, it was thought it was due to strict regulations within the Euro bloc.
During an interview with The Verge in July, Meta spokesperson Christine Pai said that it was "upcoming regulatory uncertainty" that is believed to be the EU's Digital Market's Act (DMA) that was keeping Threads from the region.
The DMA prevents major tech companies, like Meta, Google and TikTok, from mixing the data that is collected across their platforms, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, and using the information to produce targeted adverts without the user's consent.
Although Meta did not directly blame the DMA for Threads' absence from the EU at the time, Instagram head Adam Mosseri suggested that the policy factored into the decision not to launch the app in the territory.
He told The New York's Time's 'Hard Fork' podcast: "It’s not just disclosures and consent. It’s also verifying that there’s no data leakage.
"You have to put in place processes and technology that all but guarantee that anything you say, you can verify; and usually multiple ways.”
