Threads Meta's Twitter rival has expanded its reach to the European Union as announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. After its initial launch in over 100 countries including the US and the UK in mid-2023 Threads is now accessible to the EU's 448 million citizens. Despite its global presence the service was previously unavailable to EU residents with Meta even blocking access through VPNs. To mark its European debut Meta has introduced a feature allowing users in the region to browse Threads without the necessity of creating a profile. However active participation such as posting or interacting with content still requires an Instagram account. The decision to enable this option for EU users was reported by The Wall Street Journal. The delay in Threads' introduction to EU countries has been attributed to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) a comprehensive legislation aiming to regulate Big Tech and ensure fair competition. While Meta did not explicitly mention the DMA Instagram head Adam Mosseri cited challenges in complying with upcoming laws. Meta designated as a "gatekeeper" under the DMA has until March 2024 to adhere to its provisions. Concerns have been raised about Threads' close integration with Instagram potentially conflicting with EU regulations. Originally users signed up through their existing Instagram accounts fostering quick connections with followers. Despite some adjustments in mid-November such as allowing users to delete their Threads account without affecting their Instagram account a link between the two platforms persists. Although Threads gained rapid popularity leveraging Instagram's success and the upheaval at Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) third-party data suggests Meta's platform struggled to retain users after the initial surge. The EU launch is expected to attract new users raising the question of whether Threads has evolved sufficiently with added features since its launch to retain them.