Meta Blocks EU-based Users Who Access Threads via VPN

Multiple users from the EU were reported to be complaining about the Threads app's inaccessibility through VPN.

Meta confirmed that they are indeed blocking users.

Although Threads is widely available and has gained millions of sign ups upon its release, the app still posed a privacy threat in the EU policy.

"Threads is not currently available in most countries in Europe and we've taken additional steps to prevent people based there from accessing it at this time," Meta stated as reported by TechCrunch.

"Europe continues to be an incredibly important market for Meta and we hope to make Threads available here in the future," it added.

Meta and EU

Meta has decided to not pursue, at least for now, the launch of Threads in the EU due to the complexities and conflict with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The DMA aims to put a base and market cap threshold on "gatekeepers" company like Google, TikTok, and Meta, which clearly affects the future rollouts of new products and services from this company.

"It's just going to take longer to make sure not only that it's compliant but that any claims we make about how we've implemented compliance stand up to our very high set of documentation and testing centers internally," Instagram head Adam Mosseri told The Verge.

Meta Threads Surge Drops After Big Launch

Threads app is now seeing drops on its daily active users and time spent on app, as reported by Sensor Tower and SimilarWeb to CNBC.

Currently, Threads experienced a 25% drop in daily active users, as well as 50% less time spent on the app.

"These early returns signal that despite the hoopla during its launch, it will still be an uphill climb for Threads to carve out space in most users' social network routine," managing director at Sensor Tower, Anthony Bartolacci, shared with CNBC.