More than 10 million people have swiftly signed up for Threads, Meta’s Twitter rival, following its launch, posing a significant challenge to Elon Musk’s Twitter; however, its release in Europe has been delayed due to data privacy concerns.

More than 30 million people have downloaded Threads, Meta’s rival to Twitter, within the first few hours of its launch, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday.

The app went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 2300 GMT on Wednesday, and will run with no ads for now, but its release in Europe has been delayed over data privacy concerns.

Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but has yet to replace one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, despite its struggles.

Zuckerberg also offered a shot across the bow at Musk; the pair are known to be bitter rivals and have provided to wrestle it out in a cage fight.

Twitter has said it has well over 200 million daily users.

Musk’s chaotic ownership

Threads was introduced as a clear spin-off of Instagram, which offers a built-in audience of more than two billion users, sparing the new platform the challenge of starting from scratch.

Zuckerberg is widely understood to be taking advantage of Musk’s chaotic ownership of Twitter to push out the new product, which Meta hopes will become the go-to platform for celebrities, companies, and politicians.

Under Musk, Twitter has seen content moderation reduced to a minimum, with glitches and rash decisions scaring away celebrities and significant advertisers.

Meta has its legion of critics, too, especially in Europe, which could slow the growth of Threads.

Personal data

The company has been criticized for handling personal data, the essential ingredient for targeted ads that help it rake in billions of dollars in profits.

According to a source close to the matter, Meta was wary of a new law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which sets strict rules for the world’s “gatekeeper” internet companies.

Meta was caught doing just that after it bought WhatsApp, and European regulators will be on high alert to ensure it does not do so illegally with Threads.

Miroslava Salazar with AFP