Threads not currently (and probably never) available in Europe
Threads is having a pretty active launch. De Zuck saw the umpteenth uproar at Twitter and decided not to wait until the predetermined date. Since the app was introduced prematurely, the number of users has increased considerably. The app can be downloaded in more than 100 countries and the number of users has now passed the hundred million mark. The app is especially popular in the United States and the United Kingdom.
In Europe, people wanting to flee from Twitter will have to choose another lifeboat, or wait. But why is Meta delaying its introduction to the European market? It is almost certainly probably related to the stricter rules that prevail in the EU.
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EU in battle with Big Tech
The EU opposes the idea that monopolies are the irrevocable final state of any capitalist society and makes attempt after attempt to prevent the formation of such monopolies through regulation. For example, the ‘AI act’ must ensure that this market remains competitive and the EU wants Google to divest the advertising branch of the company. Furthermore, people in Brussels and Strasbourg are big fans of mopping, but only if the tap is open.
Meta also regularly quarrels with the European court, and seems to have had enough beatings by now. Meta already anticipates the storm with regard to the introduction of Threads. The Digital Markets Regulation threatens to throw a spanner in the works. This law, which has not yet entered into force, aims to ensure that the big boys cannot make work impossible for small new companies. Companies like Meta control such a large part of the online sphere that they actually act as gatekeepers. Which gives such companies an unfair advantage in the market.
Law smothers innovation
Meta, and the other tech giants, complain bitterly that conforming to such legislation stands in the way of innovation. Silicon Valley’s official motto has long been “Move fast and break things.” In other words, fast forward, and above all, destroy things. Innovation requires victims and often the old order stands in the way of progress. That may be so, but the progression in question mainly involves exploiting crazy amounts of information extracted from users for monetary gain. The “old order” is represented by governments demanding that companies take the privacy of their citizens seriously.
The aforementioned regulation, which is often referred to by the English abbreviation DMA (Digital Markets Act), has explicitly designated Meta as a gatekeeper. This means that the regulations in the law will apply specifically to Meta, just like Google and TikTok, for example. When the law is applied, it will prevent Threads from simply exchanging data with Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. It’s the bringing together of data from all these apps that Meta says is the appeal of Threads.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri says it’s these rules that make Meta hesitate. In a New York Times podcast, he indicated where the shoe pinches. “It’s about more than asking permission and making public what you do (with data, ed.). It is also about verifying that no data is leaking.” Without knowing the extent to which the EU wants to be assured of this, it is difficult to state definitively whether the requirement is reasonable. At first glance you would expect that the prevention of data leaks should be standard.
Threads had a bit of a “yolo” launch
The fact that not enough thought has been given to preventing data leaks has everything to do with the way Threads was introduced. According to Mosseri, Threads “had a lot more of a yolo launch than anything we’ve done lately.” In countries like the US, where the entrepreneurial mindset reigns, such behavior is possible. In the EU it is (if you ask me, fortunately) different. Things like GDPR are now becoming a global standard. With much more protection for users of apps as a result.
All this cuts into the revenue model of companies such as Meta. Collecting data in order to sell people junk that is of no use to people as effectively as possible is big business. Threads itself doesn’t seem to collect that much data. But you don’t have to when it is fed with data collected by Facebook and Instagram. Facebook has previously shown that it is also perfectly willing to give third parties access to user data. This revenue model is under threat from the aforementioned EU legislation.
Staying away from EU markets Threads show that legislation works
In any case, Threads takes the threat of possible punishment from EU judges very seriously. The company even blocks users accessing Threads through a VPN. For the initiated, with a VPN you can make a server think that your device is accessing a service via, for example, an American network.
European legislators see the fruits of their labor in Threads’ absence. Danish lawmaker Christel Schaldemose recently told Politico: “The fact that Threads is still not available to European citizens shows that EU law works. I hope Meta will ensure all regulations are covered and met before Threads becomes available to EU citizens.”
Meta says they do plan to launch Threads in Europe for now. Details of such a launch have not been published at the time of writing this article.
