Meta to not offer Threads app in EU amid regulatory worries - Bloomberg

Investing.com -- Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will not be rolling out its Threads social media platform -- and potential Twitter rival -- in the European Union until it resolves issues with the bloc over data sharing, according to a Bloomberg News report on Wednesday.

Citing an unnamed person familiar with the situation, the report said Meta is awaiting further guidance regarding the Digital Markets Act, a new piece of EU legislation that aims to ensure that large online platforms behave "in a fair way online."

Meta has already said that Threads, which will be linked to its popular photo-sharing app Instagram, will go live on Thursday. Users in the U.S. and U.K. have already been offered an option to pre-order the service in the Apple App Store, although reports have said it had not been made available in some European countries as of Tuesday night.

Earlier this week, Meta described Threads as a "text-based conversation" app that will be a place "where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow.”

The release of Threads comes as some Twitter users have started to seek alternatives to the platform in response to controversial decisions taken by owner Elon Musk, who bought the company for $44 billion in October.

Most recently, Musk announced that limits will be placed on the number of posts that can be viewed, saying it was necessary in part to "address extreme levels of data scraping." The decision was widely slammed by users, many of whom pay monthly fees for increased prominence on the site.