As the fallout between Elon Musk and advertisers continues, Meta insiders have told media that Threads will be rolled out in the EU this month.
Meta is reportedly planning to launch Threads in the EU this month, almost half a year after the social app rolled out in other parts of the world.
People familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that Threads, seen as a competitor to Elon Musk’s X, will launch in the EU in December under the condition that Meta will give EU users the choice of viewing content on the app without creating a profile.
When contacted by SiliconRepublic.com, Meta had no comment to make on the report at this time.
Threads was first launched in July when it became available in most major markets, including the UK, US and India. However, Meta withheld launching the app in the EU because of its strict regulations for online services, such as the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act.
Linked with Instagram, which has about 1.2bn accounts, the app saw rapid success initially, surpassing 100m users less than five days after its release and turning it into one of the most successful launches of all time.
By the end of July, this number had more than halved. Analytics firms even claimed the app’s daily active users had dropped by more than 80pc by the first week of August, owing to a lack of new features and engaging content.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg said he was “quite optimistic” about Threads, but that the app won’t be monetised anytime soon.
In October, Meta rolled out new features on Threads, including polls and GIFs. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said they have also been testing several features such as hashtags and trending topics in a manner similar to that found on X.
If Threads indeed launches in the EU this month, the timing is most opportune. The app may be able to capitalise on the continuing fallout between Musk and advertisers on X, the latest instance of which involves the billionaire using expletives to refer to advertisers pulling ads from his app.
Meanwhile, recently unsealed court documents allege that Meta has designed and deployed “harmful and psychologically manipulative product features” to keep younger users on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for longer.
The documents also claim that the company tries to direct Facebook and Instagram towards children under the age of 13, despite children being prohibited from using these platforms.
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