This post was originally published on this site
Meta Platforms’ chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday outlined plans to launch the Threads social media platform in the European Union after an apparent regulatory delay.
That debut will give 450 million people who live in the EU area access to Meta’s
META,
new microblogging platform, which rolled out to 100 countries worldwide in July.
“Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welcome everyone ????,” said Zuckerberg in a post on Threads.
Meta previously held back from launching in the EU at the same time as its global launch in July, due to “upcoming regulatory uncertainty” in relation to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, according to The Verge.
The delays were reportedly caused by clashes between Meta and EU regulators over Threads’ use of personal data, said The Guardian.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act, which was brought into force in November 2022, seeks to ensure fair competition between internet companies by blocking the world’s top firms from abusing their dominant positions.
The EU launch comes as Meta seeks to create a rival X, formerly Twitter, as advertisers have increasingly turned away from the social media platform since Musk’s $44 billion buyout of the company.
Meta’s free app, which links to users’ Instagram accounts, has however struggled to capture X/Twitter’s share of the market despite the chaos at its Musk owned rival.
As of December, Threads has just 141 million users worldwide, according to data from Quiver Quantitative, compared to X/Twitter’s 540 million users.
Initial interest in Threads has also dropped off sharply since its launch in July with users complaining about spam posts on the app.
In a statement announcing the EU launch, Meta said it had made “significant improvements to the app” including by letting users edit posts.
Those in the EU will be able to use Threads without opening an Instagram account, unlike elsewhere, where users have complained they are unable to delete their Threads accounts without also deleting their Instagram profiles.
