TechSoftwareAppsCan you use Threads when holidaying in Europe?Threads isn’t available in the EU. Here’s how to ensure you can use it if you’re travelling thereWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechSoftwareAppsCan you use Threads when holidaying in Europe?Threads isn’t available in the EU. Here’s how to ensure you can use it if you’re travelling thereWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Threads isn’t available in the EU. Here’s how to ensure you can use it if you’re travelling there
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Amid all the fuss overThreads, the Instagram-powered Twitter rival that’s making Elon Musk miserable, there’s one itty-bitty teeny-weeny problem: it isn’t available in Europe. That’s because EU privacy laws are pretty tough, and tougher than places such as the US and UK: the EU is particularly unhappy about firms harvesting user data for advertising and related purposes, and it seems that Threads falls foul of that at the moment.
But it raises an interesting question for those of us using Threads outside the EU if we’re travelling into the EU for a holiday or for work. Can you still use Threads if you’re in Europe?
The short answer is: it’s complicated.
How to get Threads and use it in the EU
If Threads is indeed cracking down on in-EU use, it appears to be doing it inconsistently: some readers say it’s now blocked, others that it’s working fine. If it’s intentional rather than just a bug – Threads is still far from being a version 1.0 release – then it’s likely using IP lookups and geolocation to work out where people are and to then limit their access to the app.
As ever with geoblocking, the solution is to get one of thebest VPNsand use that: it disguises your location so that you can pretend to be somewhere you’re not. Not all VPN services have phone apps but the big ones usually do, and they’re handy for other things too – such asunblocking your favourite streaming showswhen you’re travelling abroad.
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