Threads’ European expansion could add 40 million monthly users
Meta Platforms is planning a major expansion of its Threads platform that will see it go live in the European Union (EU) in December 2023, Wall Street Journal reports.
The Twitter (now X) competitor launched globally in July 2023, with the exclusion of the EU, whose regulatory protections blocked the launch in the region.
However, it will work slightly differently in the EU.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that Meta had to “give EU users the choice of using Threads purely for consumption without a profile”, meaning they do not need to be logged in to view Threads content.
According to independent research analyst Debra Aho Williamson, the move could score Threads an extra 40 million monthly users, based on the proportion of Instagram users worldwide that have signed up already.
The expansion plan, combined with Twitter’s (now X’s) struggles, could mean Threads is well-positioned to compete with the Elon Musk-owned platform.
Following the departure of various big advertisers following controversial comments made by Musk on the platform, Musk told advertisers to “go f*ck” themselves, describing their tactics as blackmail.