Does the world really need another Twitter? Meta seems to think so, having developed a new alternative to the Musk-led platform called “Threads” (an Instagram app), but unfortunately for fans of Mark Zuckerberg and company, not everyone will be able to try it, with a spokesperson for Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) now having confirmed that it isn’t coming to the country nor the rest of the EU—at least, for now. That said, the new app, which is free and described as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app,” should be available for US and UK users to download beginning today.
A spokesperson for Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) said that the regulator had been in contact about the new service and that it would not be rolled out in the EU “at this point.”
Sources close to Meta said that the tech giant has refrained from rolling the service out in the EU because of what the company believes is a lack of clarity contained in the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Under the Act, companies such as Meta become “gatekeepers”, with restrictions on how they mingle users’ personal data.
The new Threads platform is designed to import data from Instagram, including behavioural and advertising information.
