Meta is ready to launch its Twitter/X-competitor Threads in Europe this month, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
When Threads initially launched in July 2023 it was available in most global markets, but Meta held off on launching in Europe because of that region’s strict regulations around online services and data privacy. To address this, when Threads launches in the EU users in that region will have the option to access the app without creating a profile, enabling them to consume content on the platform without adding their own.
Separately, Meta’s Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced on Threads that users around the world will finally be able to delete their Threads account without also deleting their Instagram account. Because Threads was tied to Instagram access, users had previously only been able to deactivate their Threads account if they wanted to stop using Threads but continue using Instagram.
Originally dubbed the “Twitter Killer,” Threads launched to great fanfare this summer, but usership dropped off dramatically in the following months. However, this latest expansion could mark the beginning of a resurgence for the platform, especially since it arrives as X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) is experiencing another rush of advertiser abandonment following more incendiary comments from owner Elon Musk.
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And Musk’s response to this latest advertiser kerfuffle seems to only be making the situation worse, potentially fueling new Threads growth. During an interview at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit this week, Musk said: “If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money. Go f— yourself,” and then adding, “What this advertising boycott is going to do is, it’s going to kill the company.”
In October, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Threads had just under 100 million monthly active users, and WSJ estimates that expansion into Europe could increase that number by an additional 40 million.
