Threads, the new Instagram-based short message system to rival Twitter, will not initially be available in the European Union.
Instagram, which is part of social media giant Meta along with Facebook and WhatsApp, will launch Threads on Thursday in the United States, but said on Wednesday that regulatory issues mean it cannot be rolled out in the EU yet.
The firm said it was constantly looking into when it could offer the app in Europe as well.
Threads is seen as potentially Twitter's strongest rival because the app can draw on the network of hundreds of millions of Instagram users who are already connected.
Other Twitter competitors - such as Truth Social used by former US president Donald Trump - have yet to build such links.
Twitter has lurched between a number of crises since its takeover by technology billionaire Elon Musk last year.
