September 21, 2023
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0Why Is Threads Banned in Europe?
Users from the European Union began to complain that they could not access the Threads application even through a VPN. After that, Meta confirmed that it deliberately blocks such attempts.
Read in this article what happened and whether there is a way to bypass the lock.
Learn more about Meta’s security issues here.
Threads: A new Meta application
In early July 2023, Meta Corporation has launched a new social network Threads, which duplicates the functionality of Twitter. At the same time, Meta excluded EU countries from the number of regions supported by the new service. The corporation did this to avoid lawsuits for violating the requirements of strict EU laws on the privacy of internet users.
Europeans began trying to connect to Threads using VPN services. But many of these did not work out. In response to the indignation of users, Meta issued a statement in which it admitted that it deliberately blocks the connection to Threads servers from the EU.
Threads is not available in the EU: What is the reason?
So, due to privacy issues, the application is not available in the EU. The company said in a statement that it has taken additional measures to prohibit users from this access.
“Threads is currently unavailable in most of Europe, and we have taken additional steps to ensure that people who are there cannot access it at this time. Europe remains an incredibly important market for Meta, and we hope to make Threads available here in the future,” the statement reads.
The problem is that the new app tracks users according to the Meta Privacy Policy, which states that the app can collect several personal data, including health and financial information, exact location, browsing history, contacts, and search history. This approach creates legal and regulatory problems for Meta in the EU.
By EU data protection legislation, a company must have a legitimate basis for the legitimate processing of such personal data for advertising targeting.
The EU Digital Markets Act also imposes restrictions on how companies can combine data for advertising. Meta cited uncertainty about how the law would be used.
Conclusion
Thus, the Threads application intensively tracks users by the Meta privacy policy and the list of iOS applications, which states that the application can collect several personal data, including highly confidential information such as health and financial data, exact location, browsing history, contacts, and search history.
This approach creates legal and regulatory problems for Meta in the EU.
By EU data protection legislation, Meta requires a legitimate legal basis for the legitimate processing of such personal data for advertising targeting — an area in which the company is facing increasing uncertainty following a recent court ruling.
At the same time, even a VPN does not save the situation, and users from the EU cannot use Threads. We will see how Meta directors will solve this problem shortly.
The list of free VPNs with a trial period is here.
