Source: AFP
The wait could be over for internet users in the European Union who want to sign up for Threads, an Instagram app.
Meta-owned Instagram launched Threads in the United States and elsewhere in July, but EU users can’t access the platform because the company was wary of Brussels regulatory oversight ahead of any launch.
Now, however, when anyone in the EU visits the Threads website, there is a countdown timer that ends on Thursday at 11:00 GMT. People outside the EU see the usual login page.
EU users can also search for a “ticket” and find a digital invitation with a countdown and the words “Threads EU launch” as well as a QR code.
Now speculation is growing that this means the app will be available on the block. Contacted by AFP, Instagram declined to comment.
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The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Instagram planned to launch Threads in the EU in December.
Threads has been pitched as a challenger to X, formerly known as Twitter, which remains one of the world’s biggest social media platforms despite its struggles following a 2022 takeover by tech mogul Elon Musk.
Within the first hours of Threads’ launch in 100 countries, more than 30 million people signed up, according to Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, which also owns Facebook.
The EU has built a powerful legal arsenal to rein in Big Tech, including the Digital Markets Act (DMA) which restricts how the world’s “gatekeeper” companies do business online.
Meta was wary of DMA, a source close to the matter said in July.
The company has come under heavy scrutiny in Europe for how it handles personal data and has struggled to comply with strict EU data privacy rules.
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Since November, Facebook and Instagram users in Europe have been told that they must pay to use Meta’s social networks if they want to continue to benefit from these EU data privacy protections, or they can opt for a “free” version that collects their personal data for targeted advertising.
This “pay for privacy” approach is the gauntlet of two legal challenges.
Zuckerberg has said he wants a “public conversation app” for more than a billion people as he seeks to capitalize on Musk’s chaotic ownership of Twitter and turn his app into a platform for celebrities, companies and politicians.
Instagram has more than two billion users that it hopes will turn to its Threads spin-off.
X, meanwhile, says it has more than 200 million daily users.
Source: AFP