Meta launched Threads in July in more than 100 countries, including Ukraine, the US and the UK, and is now set to grab a piece of the pie in the form of nearly half a billion EU users.

“Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe,” Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Threads.

Previously, the company blocked EU users from accessing Threads, even through a VPN. Instagram chief Adam Mossery hinted that the launch was delayed due to “difficulties with complying with some laws coming into effect next year” — likely referring to the Digital Markets Act, which is hostile to tight integrations like Threads with Instagram (in fact, an Instagram profile automatically was transferred to Threads, and until a certain time it was not possible to leave the new social network without leaving the old one).

At the same time, this integration (and the problems in Elon Musk’s Twitter, which Zuckerberg’s social network actually duplicates) allowed Threads to gather more than 100 million users in record time.

X (which has now become Twitter) has had major issues with moderation, which has caused many large advertisers to leave the social network, so Threads seems set to take advantage of that. Meta announced that it is launching a special fact-checking tool that will prioritize verified posts in the feed and “effectively combat disinformation.” Users will be able to independently configure the display of controversial topics with three levels (although it will not be possible to completely hide such content).

To access the settings, you need to tap the two lines in the upper right corner of the Threads profile tab, then “Account” – “Other account settings” (directs to Instagram) – “Content settings”.

Meta said in a statement to NBC News that these settings will give users more control over the algorithm that ranks posts in their feed.

Meta also stated that Instagram has had fact-checking rating options for years, but never seemed to properly communicate it. According to The Economic Times, the company added the feature to Facebook in May, and a Meta spokesperson said it was intended to “make controls on Facebook more consistent with those on Instagram.”