Unknown mystery. Or almost. Although there’s no official announcement or much detail yet, Meta has already announced when Threads will be coming to the European Union (EU), the platform where it wants to try out the old Twitter X. If you access the Threads website from the EU, you will see a countdown ending on Thursday, December 14th. Something similar happens when you type “ticket” into the Instagram search engine, which is also a social network under the umbrella of Meta. In this case, you will see an icon in the form of a ticket. When you press this, a personalized invitation for Topics will appear and a countdown will be displayed until the next day, the 14th.

This is what is known for now.

A date marked in red. There’s no official announcement or statement on exactly how and where Threads will be deployed in the European Union, but the backer of the new social network, Meta, wanted to drop some meaningful hints about its landing on the old continent. Two, to be more precise. The first one is on the Theards.net website. If you access from the EU, you’ll see a countdown with five days and just over three hours left at the time of writing this article. This makes the new platform launch in the EU next Thursday, December 14 at 12:00.

Plus with a personalized invitation. The second clue that the multinational technology company missed is equally obvious, although less visible. When you type “ticket” into the Instagram search engine, a small icon appears next to a QR, taking us to a Topics invitation where our username appears and the date and time are stated: Thursday, December 14th, 12:00 noon. . In case there is any doubt, the pass mimics a boarding pass and, in addition to the QR code, has an image reminiscent of the EU stamp in its upper corner.

With mystery until the end. The date has already been reported by media outlets such as Engadget or The Verge, which consulted Meta about how the distribution in Europe will be and in which EU countries the new social network will be activated next Thursday. However, no further details are known at this time and no official announcement has been released. History is new; time frame, not so much. Countdown activated after days Wall StreetJournal He announced that Meta plans to launch its new platform in the EU during December 2024.

Months late. If Meta Threads’ recently published timetable is met, it will reach the EU before the end of 2023, but will face months of delays in hundreds of countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. early July. Even the White House has already created its own official account there. The delay in the EU is largely explained by problems with the legislation and regulations of the digital world.

In the summer, Meta spokesperson Christine Pai specifically pointed to “impending regulatory uncertainty,” a veiled reference to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and its guidelines on data collection and sharing. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, towed a similar line in July, talking about the “complexity of complying with some laws.” The Executive referred specifically to the DMA and the Digital Services Act. with others big techMeta has been designated as the “gatekeeper” of access due to its user base and weight, making it subject to certain measures aimed at preventing abuse of power in the market.

Countdown now showing Threads website.

Ambitious goal. Threads’ goal is certainly ambitious. The aim of Mark Zuckerberg’s multinational company is to challenge the old Twitter The new social network launches with the support of the powerful Meta, and more specifically Instagram, for its purpose.

The invitation that Instagram shows when you type “ticket” into the search engine.

Be successful in X’s garden. Zuckerberg continued: “It will take time, but there should be a public speaking app with over 1,000 million users. Twitter had the opportunity but failed to do it. I hope we can achieve it.” The start didn’t go badly. Less than a week after launch, Threards had gained just over 100 million users, but it seemed to be losing steam as the weeks progressed.

According to data released at the end of November, the platform hopes to achieve long-term stability with the entry into the European Union and gain 40 million additional users in 2024. Wall StreetJournal. Just to make its way to the old continent, the tech company decided that users could use the service as content consumers without needing a profile that would allow them to broadcast themselves.

Cover photo: Anthony Quintano

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