The State Duma doubted that Threads will gain popularity in Russia

The new application of the Meta corporation (recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and banned) Threads is unlikely to become popular in Russia. This opinion was expressed by Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.

“So far I have the feeling that the new social network is unlikely to become popular inside Russia: nevertheless, the Twitter mechanics did not take root very well with us. But for the purposes of international influence (or foreign broadcasting, if you like), this tool can and should be used,” wrote he is in his Telegram channel, adding that he is thinking about creating an account in Threads.

Gorelkin noted that, according to the statistics of the social network, the number of users registered in it will soon exceed 100 million. According to the deputy, the share of Russian users is no more than 0.5%. He expressed the opinion that Threads is interested in the Russian audience. This is indicated by the localization of the interface, explained Gorelkin.

The Russian authorities will oversee the development of the app and how Threads’ policies will apply to Russian media, including RT and Sputnik. These media, according to Gorelkin, “are already actively active in the new media space and are not shy about expressions.”

The Threads app was launched on the night of July 6th. You can log in to the social network through your Instagram account. However, you can only delete a profile in Threads together with an Instagram account (owned by Meta and blocked in Russia). From the description of the service it follows that the application is designed for text messaging. Outwardly, the social network is similar to Elon Musk’s Twitter.

In Roskomnadzor declaredthat Threads can operate in Russia subject to Russian laws. They added that Internet sites visited by users from Russia should promptly remove “socially dangerous content and counteract the spread of destructive materials.” Gorelkin earlier clarifiedthat Threads in Russia is de facto subject to technical blocking, since the application is integrated with Instagram.