Meta Introduces Rate Limits on Threads to Fight Spam

Meta has implemented temporary restrictions on Threads, its Twitter competitor that just added a new Followers tab and other new features on iOS. After Twitter limited the number of tweets users could see per day earlier this month, Meta has now introduced similar rate limits to fight spam on the platform.

“Spam attacks have picked up so we’re going to have to get tighter on things like rate limits, which is going to mean more unintentionally limiting active people (false positives),” explained Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram in a post on Threads yesterday. Threads was created by the Instagram team and the app requires an Instagram account to sign up, but it was inevitable that bots would start appearing on the platform.

In the replies to Mosseri’s message, many Threads users have been complaining about not being able to follow more people or do other things in the app. Unfortunately, these rate limits come at a time when Meta really needs to convince early adopters that it’s worth it to keep using Threads while the curiosity effect starts to wear off.

Even though Threads appears to be the most solid alternative to Twitter right now, the app still lacks a lot of basic features. The web app remains view-only, and the Follows tab on the Activity feed that made its debut on iOS yesterday isn’t available on Android yet.

“We have a lot of work to do. We need to resist the temptation to get wrapped up in the hype, avoid getting distracted by the naysayers, put our heads down and focus on making it better,” Mosseri said about the current state of Threads. As for when the app will be available in Europe, the exec said in an Instagram story that “it’s just going to take many months, unfortunately.”