Threads – a text-based app by Facebook’s parent company Meta – has officially launched in Europe, six months after its worldwide rollout. The company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch on Thursday through the platform saying, “Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welcome everyone.”
Threads’ Conception
The app was initially launched in July 2023 as a rival platform to X, formerly known as twitter, which was bought by its now CEO Elon Musk. Its initial rollout took place across hundreds of countries including the United Kingdom, United States etc. While the initial days saw more than a 100 million sign ups, the usage has reduced since.
The app is also becoming a more enticing avenue for advertisers because its counterpart X has been immersed in controversies following its CEO Musk seemingly agreeing with an antisemitic post. Disney, Apple, IBM and several other companies announced that they would pull ads from the platform – a massive loss considering X has already lost half of its top advertisers since Musk presumed charge.
Threads is seeking to dominate the space by presenting itself as the ideal substitute – while it still lacks key features like being unable to provide analytical information that helps brands and creators advertise, there is no monetisation, and users still can’t directly message each other.
However, an array of new features including being able to edit posts, use keywords to search, follow tags and a website, threads.net, have been recently introduced.
Threads’ delayed launch in Europe
The European Union, to combat the dominance of Big Tech companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, introduced the Digital Markets Act. In efforts to level the playing field, the Big Tech companies have till 2024 to comply with all the DMA conditions and requirements.
Thus, during the initial release of Threads, having an Instagram account was essential for users to access the app – a necessity that violated the act’s rule against self-preferencing. Meta’s post on its blog on Thursday informed users that they no longer need to have an Instagram Account to access the platform – a move that finally allowed its expansion into European markets to be greenlit by the governing authorities.
A couple of other updates being introduced in the near future would include Thread having its third-party fact-checking app, one which will rate and moderate false comments on Threads according to Meta. As of now, Threads’ content isn’t independently rated and uses Facebook’s and Instagram’s checkers to rate almost identical content.
With X receiving increasing criticism for being the main ground for the proliferation of misinformation and hate speech since Musk’s take over, fact-checking would be an essential and remunerative update for the app with the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Elections.
EU residents can now create an account or access Threads individually, link it to their Instagram Accounts, share content, search for accounts and report content.
