Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has announced the availability of Threads in the European Union (EU) after a five-month delay due to regulatory issues.
Threads, a social media platform integrated with Instagram, is now open to users in EU countries. In his announcement, Zuckerberg mentioned that users in the EU can create Threads profiles for posting or simply browse without needing an Instagram account, likely to comply with online services legislation.
The delay in launching Threads in the EU was attributed to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), aimed at fostering openness and competition in the tech sector. Initially, Threads required users to sign up through their Instagram accounts, leading to integration concerns and complaints about the inability to delete Threads profiles without affecting the associated Instagram accounts.
In November, Meta addressed this by allowing separate deletion or deactivation of Threads profiles while keeping the Instagram accounts intact.
With Threads now available in the EU, it is expected to experience an increase in user numbers, considering the market size of 448 million people. Mark Zuckerberg mentioned on a company earnings call in October that Threads had "just under" 100 million monthly users.
Since its launch, Threads has introduced features such as a web app, post search functionality, and a post editing feature.
