on Thursday, July 6, the application will have its premiere Instagram Threads, which is the newest rival of Twitter from Meta (formerly Facebook). It turns out, however, that this platform will not come to the European Union, including Poland. At least not at the moment.
citing an Irish spokesman Data Protection Commission (DPC), i.e. the equivalent of the Polish UODO. According to the information provided by the DPC, representatives of Meta contacted the Irish regulator and informed them that “at this point” there are no plans to launch Instagram Threads in the European Union. The reasons for this decision are not yet known (Meta declines to comment on the matter), but – as the Independent explains – Mark Zuckerberg’s company may have been concerned that the platform would violate the EU’s personal data protection regulations (GDPR).
Such fears are indeed justified. Threads is integrated with Instagram (In a similar way Instagram and Facebook are connected). This means that this service will import a lot of information about users of this “older” platform. In the description of the Instagram Threads application in the Apple App Store, there is a note that this platform will collect data from users regarding their health, finances, browsing history, location, purchases, contacts, search history and sensitive information, which could also potentially raise concerns for EU authorities responsible for the protection of personal data.
Instagram Threads Apple App Store
Instagram Threads will not launch in the EU. Meta got scared?
. In May this year the company was fined amounting to USD 1.3 billion. for transferring data about European users to the USA. The above-mentioned Irish Data Protection Commission was behind this decision. Earlier, in 2022, the EU imposed USD 18.6 million on the company. penalties for failure to adequately protect user data. Another fine of $275 million was related to charges of violating privacy rules. Previously, Meta was fined $414 million. for the lack of formal consent to the use of personal data by their platforms.
At the moment, it is not clear whether Meta completely abandoned the launch of Instagram Threads in the EU or postponed the release date in time to work out an appropriate agreement with EU regulators in advance.
On Tuesday, in an interview with Bloomberg, Meta’s spokesman informed only that that Instagram Threads will debut in over 100 countries, and more will join them in the future. So far, however, we do not know the list of markets where the service will start on Thursday.
The debut of Instagram Threads is a blow aimed at Elon Musk
The fact that Meta plans to launch an application that would rival Twitter has been rumored in the industry for some time. It’s no secret that under the rule of Elon Musk, Twitter is experiencing – to put it mildly – difficult times (just recall the recent scandal with the introduction of the tweet limit), and this creates the right atmosphere to take away some of the annoyed users from the platform. Few, however, expected Mark Zuckerberg to act so quickly.
Zuckerberg’s plans are definitely not to the taste of the current head of Twitter. Upon learning that Meta was creating a rival to Twitter, Elon Musk stated that after launching such a platform, “the earth would be only under Zuck’s thumb, with no other options.” When one Twitter user suggested to Musk to be more careful because Mark Zuckerberg “knows ju jitsu”, Musk replied: “I’m ready for a cage fight if he agrees.” To everyone’s surprise, the creator of Facebook accepted an unusual challenge. “Send me the location,” he wrote on Instagram.
Elon Musk decided to lead this “game” further and in one of the following entries he proposed a place. The fight would take place in the famous UFC octagon in Las Vegas. Although it is still not known whether the duel will finally take place, the very idea has already heated the internet red.
Source: Gazeta
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
