Meta Platforms introduces Threads, a Twitter competitor, in the European Union; anticipates significant increase in user base.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday that Threads, the text-based app owned by Facebook’s parent company, has finally made its way to the European Union. This comes several months after its initial global launch in July. Threads, which originated from the popular Instagram photo app, aims to compete with X (previously known as Twitter) as it seeks to regain users and advertisers who were dissatisfied with the platform following Elon Musk’s acquisition last year.
“Today we’re opening Threads to more European countries. Welcome everyone,” Zuckerberg said on Threads.
The messages were published in 100 countries earlier this year, but not in the EU. Meta officials cite regulatory clarity as the reason for the delay in the social network’s arrival in Europe.
Meta has repeatedly come under the EU’s regulatory microscope, particularly over concerns about how it uses people’s data to deliver highly targeted advertising.
The European Union has bolstered its legal arsenal to rein in Big Tech with tougher rules to protect European users online and increase competition in an industry dominated by US giants.
More than 100 million people had joined Threads within a week of its launch outside the EU.
Meta said EU users can now create a Threads profile linked to their Instagram account, but can also use the app without a profile to browse, share and even report content as part of the company’s compliance with EU rules.
However, they cannot interact with Threads content or post without an Instagram login.
Instagram has about two billion users around the world.
Threads said it has added new features since its launch, including “Next Feed,” the ability to edit a post, search by keyword, and tag topics.
– “Reach more people” –
Under a landmark law known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU named Meta a “gatekeeper” and faces tougher restrictions on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The tightened rules apply especially to the world’s largest online companies. They include Meta, Google’s Alphabet, Amazon Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance and Microsoft.
Zuckerberg said a day earlier that Threads had begun tests where users’ messages are also available on similar text-based and open-source rival social networks such as Mastodon.
“Making Threads interoperable gives people more choice in how they interact and helps content reach more people. I’m pretty optimistic about that,” Zuckerberg said in a Threads post.
Interoperability is also a goal of the EU. According to the DMA, the most popular messaging services must allow users to send to other applications.
Meta questions the EU’s designation of its instant messaging service Messenger as a “core platform service” and its Facebook Marketplace, which also falls under the scope of the DMA.
The company has struggled to comply with the strict rules of the 2018 EU General Data Protection Regulation.
It hopes that by offering paid ad-supported Facebook and Instagram subscriptions in Europe to users who don’t want their personal data collected, it will help avoid further problems.
– Dealing with false information –
Threads CEO Adam Mosseri also said this week that the app will expand its fact-checking program next year.
“Currently we match Facebook or Instagram’s fact-checking ratings to Threads, but our goal is for fact-checking partners to review and rate misinformation in the app. More coming soon,” he said on Threads.
Another milestone in EU law is the Digital Services Act, which forces digital giants to aggressively monitor EU online content, including misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, against the risk of large fines.
AFP is involved in cooperation with Meta, which provides fact-checking services in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
