Instagram to release Twitter rival this week

The app, called Threads, has been made available for pre-order on the Apple store and will be a text-based app that will allow people to discuss topics and opinions.

Users will be able to use their existing Instagram accounts to access Threads, as well as follow the same accounts they do on the platform.

Threads is seen as a direct rival to Twitter and comes amid Twitter’s crackdown on access to tweets on the platform as part of a drive to increase paid subscriptions.

On Saturday, Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, said that unverified subscribers would be limited to viewing 1,000 tweets a day, with verified users accessing 10,000 a day.

Twitter launched a subscription service, Twitter Blue, last year as part of a drive to increase revenue from outside advertising.

Musk also said he wanted to prevent large language models and generative artificial intelligence companies scraping Twitter’s data for free.