According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta plans to launch Threads in the European Union next month. The social media network debuted in most markets in July this year but did not launch in the EU because Meta was unable to determine whether it could comply with the bloc's strict rules on online services. Threads can import data from Instagram, including behavioral and advertising information.
Meta will comply with regulations and offer EU users the option to use Threads purely for pleasure without setting up a profile that would allow them to publish their own posts, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
The change coincides with recent comments from Instagram director Adam Mosseri, who said the platform was rolling out a way to individually delete or deactivate Threads profiles while retaining the associated Instagram account.
As the market expands, the European Union, a single market with hundreds of millions of people, will allow Threads to achieve a leap in the number of users. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company's earnings call last month that Threads currently has "just under" 100 million monthly users. Since launching earlier this year, Threads has had a web app, post search capabilities, and post editing capabilities.
Several major advertisers, including Apple and Disney, have paused ad spending on Threads rival X (formerly Twitter) after Elon Musk posted controversial comments on his account. Musk said on Wednesday that the post was a "mistake" and that anyone trying to "extort" him for advertising dollars could "fuck off," while acknowledging that the loss of advertising revenue could be the end of the social media platform.
As mentioned above, Threads is integrated with Instagram, so its user base is pretty strong for such a new app.