Threads is currently slated to release to the public on Thursday morning, with Meta claiming that the app will be available in over 100 countries at launch. However, Meta has not provided a concrete list of which countries are included in that metric. Additionally, as of Wednesday morning, mobile app stores in EU countries like Ireland, Germany, France, and more are not showing a page for the Threads app — as opposed to app stores in the United States that currently have a pre-load page.
In recent years, EU watchdogs have been more vigilant against global tech giants like Meta out of an abundance of concern for data privacy. With the passing of the Digital Markets Act, Meta is one of several major companies that have been set up as semi-official “gatekeepers” to the wider tech industry, giving them greater sway, but also forcing them to submit to more stringent regulation and anti-monopolistic checks.
One of the most relevant concerns for Threads in regards to the DMA is a law that prohibits gatekeeper companies from utilizing any existing user data across different platforms. As Threads is intended to be a companion app to Instagram, utilizing existing profiles previously set up by its users, this regulation could effectively kneecap the app in the entire EU market.
It is not known when, if ever, Threads will be launching in the EU.
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