Meta Inc.’s Threads app will not be offered in the European Union due to stricter privacy laws.
Threads, while being available for download in the U.S and other markets, will reportedly not be available in the European Union countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Ireland and Belgium, as the company works out how data sharing between the new platform and its Instagram app will be regulated, a report from Blomberg said.
The standalone app from Meta allows users to log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts as they did on Instagram. This would allow Threads to make use of existing user habits from Instagram’s more than 2 billion monthly active users to cement its position in the market.
Meta, meanwhile, is part of a number of companies that have self-designated themselves as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will potentially make them subject to stricter regulations around data sharing and giving preferences to their own products.
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Earlier this week, in a major blow to Meta, the top E.U. court ruled in favour of Germany’s anti-cartel watchdog, which had argued that it could take data privacy issues into account when considering any antitrust case.
One of the key issues in the case was Meta’s ability to link data across platforms, which allows it to closely target adverts at users.
The German watchdog also barred Meta from mixing personal data gathered on Facebook with details harvested from Instagram or WhatsApp, arguing it amounted to abuse of its dominant market position.
Threads, being viewed as a direct rival to Twitter, comes after Zuckerberg and Musk traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.
Published - July 06, 2023 01:10 pm IST
