Threads profile can be deleted only on deleting linked Instagram account, says Meta

More than 10 million people have signed up to Threads.

Meta has recently announced that accounts on its newly launched app and Twitter rival, Threads, can only be deleted by deleting the Instagram account linked to it.

“You may deactivate your Threads profile at any time, but your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account,” Meta stated in its supplementary privacy policy, Tech Crunch reported. The Mark Zuckerberg-headed company explained that Threads profiles are part of the users' Instagram accounts and hence unless the original Instagram accounts aren't deleted, Threads profiles cannot be deleted either.

Once you create Threads profile, the only way to delete it is to also delete your Instagram account. "You may deactivate your Threads profile at any time, but your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account," read Threads' privacy policy. How to pic.twitter.com/1RX6dM8i6o

— Refat Eusha Awaken (@refateusha) July 6, 2023

The revelation has on one hand surprised users and on the other, triggered the meme factory with several Twitter users making fun of its new rival.

So. If you want to delete your Threads profile, you must first delete Instagram? What did we just sign up for? pic.twitter.com/8z5qOiCn8N — GirlTyler (@sheistyler) July 6, 2023

When you realise, if you delete your threads profile your Instagram gets deleted too pic.twitter.com/gXLk4PBJc2

— SwatKat (@swatic12) July 6, 2023

More than 10 million people have signed up to Threads, Meta's rival to Twitter, within the first few hours of its launch, the Facebook parent's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday. Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but not yet replace one of social media's most iconic companies, despite its epic struggles.

The app went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries on Wednesday, and will run with no ads for now. "10 million sign-ups in seven hours," Zuckerberg wrote on his official Threads account.

Read more: Threads had big launch energy. Twitter is under pressure