Celebrities have already popped up on Metas highlyanticipated Twitter-like app Threadsahead of its Thursday launch while some international users will be left high and dry as Mark Zuckerbergs social media behemoth skips launching in European Union countries.
Screenshots frommultiple celebrity Threads accountsbegan circulating on social media on Wednesday, with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay joking, Is this where I find the lamb sauce ?? and pop star Shakira writing a simple Well hello Threads. Zuckerberg also chimed in, writing Lets do this. Welcome to Threads.
Some Threads posts were briefly visible in a desktop version of the site but Meta later pulled them down and replaced them with an error message stating Sorry, this page isnt available and a QR code to download the app.
While famous figures were already having fun on Threads, the app did not appear in searches of app stores in Germany, Spain, Italy, and France as of Wednesday. Listings in Apples App Store in the US and the United Kingdom allow users to pre-download the app ahead of its expected debut Thursday.
The apps absence in the EU reportedly stems from lingering uncertainty about the Digital Markets Act, which regulates how Big Tech firms share user data across multiple platforms.
Threads profiles went public. I can confirm that Netflix, Shakira, Gordon Ramsay already are there. Currently, no European personal data protection authority @EU_EDPB has set up an account. The European Commission @EU_Commission also does not have an account. #GDPR #ePrivacy pic.twitter.com/EaXWDjlnfr
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is waiting for more guidance on how the rules will affect Threads, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
EU regulators have cracked down on Metas operations in the region over the last few years, including a record $1.3 billion fine in May for transferring the data of European users to servers in the US.
On Tuesday, a top EU court shot down Meta’s challenge of an order by Germanys antitrust agency to stop collecting user data, Reuters reported.
Scrutiny over Metas practices has also intensified in the US, with the Wall Street Journal reporting last month that Instagrams recommendation algorithms had facilitated the existence of a vast pedophile network on the platform.
A Meta representative told Bloomberg that the company plans to release Threads in more than 100 countries to start and would add more over time, but declined to comment on why European Union nations appeared to be left off the initial list.
The Post has reached out to Meta for further comment.
Meta describes Threads as an online platform where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to whatll be trending tomorrow. The app will be closely tied to Instagram, with users able to use the same username and maintain their existing followers.
The text-based app is set to directly compete with Elon Musks Twitter, which has faced sharp criticism this week after the billionaire enacted limits on the number of tweets users could see per day.
One Meta executive described Threads as a sanely run alternative to Twitter which exacerbated the animosity that led Musk to challenge Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match. Musk responded to Threads upcoming launch by mocking its user data privacy plan.
One Meta executive, chief product officer Chris Cox, described Threads as a sanely run alternative to Twitter which exacerbated the animosity that led Musk to challenge Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match. Musk responded to Threads upcoming launch by mocking its user data privacy plan.
Cox also told employees that Meta was in talks with prominent figures to use the app including Oprah and the Dalai Lama,The Verge reportedlast month.
