Meta's Threads now available in Europe for nearly half a billion users

Meta’s Threads social media platform officially launched in Europe Thursday, making the app available to a potential user base of about 448 million European Union residents.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, launched Threads this year as a rival to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter rebranded after Elon Musk’s takeover. In its initial launch, Threads was available in the U.S. and over 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, but it was unavailable to EU-based users until Thursday.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a post on the platform, saying, "Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welcome everyone."

When it initially launched Threads, Meta held off making it available in EU member countries due to the regional governing bloc’s strict regulations covering online platforms, including Digital Markets Act rules that were implemented last year.

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Its entry into the EU also raises the potential for regulatory action over Threads’ ties to Instagram, given that creating an account on Threads requires the user to also have an Instagram account.

With its launch in the EU, Meta is allowing EU-based users to either choose to create a Thread account that’s linked to an Instagram account or browse the platform to read and share content without an account, which is still required for users who wish to post, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Threads surged following its initial launch in July, quickly gaining millions of users during Musk’s controversial makeover of X. 

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Meta’s Zuckerberg said this fall that Threads had "just under 100 million monthly active" users and aimed to reach the 1 billion user threshold within the next few years. 

However, the platform struggled to retain that influx of users in the weeks after its launch, according to third-party data providers. Similarweb reported a 50% drop in users after one week and Sensor Tower reported a 75% decline in daily active users in August.

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Meta has rolled out new features on Threads since its launch this summer that aim to make the platform more appealing to users, including a web-based app, a following feed and search functionality.