UPDATE: Amid user complaints, Instagram head Adam Mosseri says "We're looking into a way to delete your Threads account separately." For now, you can only deactivate a Threads account if you want to retain your Instagram account.
Original story:Mark Zuckerberg is making it hard to delete a Threads account once you sign up for his new Twitter competitor.
Threads officially launched on Wednesday night, and users noticed a startling detail with the app: To delete a Threads account, you’ll also need to delete your Instagram account. The requirement is mentioned in the app’s privacy policy and in a settings panel. And not surprisingly, it's being met with annoyance. “Oh god, what have I done,” wrote one user.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the requirement will make it harder for users to completely ditch Threads, which Zuckerberg is hoping will become a major competitor to Twitter. The app has already received over 10 million sign-ups, according to Meta’s CEO. And numerous celebrities—including YouTuber Mr. Beast, NBA star Stephen Curry and Kim Kardashian—have already joined.
To quickly build a user base for Threads, Meta decided to conduct sign-ups through Instagram, which already has over 1 billion users. This means if you're an Instagram user, you can easily set up a Threads account in seconds. But on the downside, Meta came up with a sneaky justification to derail account deletions.
Tying each Thread account to a user’s Instagram profile also has another drawback. The privacy policy for Threads notes: “To change your Threads username, you must change your Instagram username.”
On top of all this, the app can collect a wide range of information from your Threads activity. The data practices are likely why Meta has refrained from bringing Threads to the European Union, which has stricter privacy requirements.
The account-deletion requirement and potential privacy red flags may be a turn-off for some users. Nevertheless, Meta is trying to build up Threads as a cleaner, more affable version of the Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has prioritized free speech over content moderation.
"We are definitely focusing on kindness and making this a friendly place,” Zuckberg said on Threads. He added that he envisions the app eventually attracting over 1 billion users.