🥊 China threw a punch

What’s going on here?

Meta’s taking the fight to Twitter, with a new, uncannily similar app called Threads.

What does this mean?

Love him or hate him, most people wouldn’t want a job on Elon Musk’s PR team. After all, it’s been one controversy after another since the tycoon took over Twitter. His relaxed approach to content moderation and the new subscription fee for verified accounts first raised eyebrows. And limiting the number of posts users can view – supposedly to ease server strain – has only pushed those furrowed caterpillars further up folks’ foreheads this past weekend. Now Meta, ever the opportunist, has smelled blood in the water: the tech giant is set to launch Threads this week, a platform linked to Instagram where users can publish, share, and reply to text-based posts. Somehow, it all sounds a little familiar…

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Something borrowed.

Twitter’s dominance in the social media space has been challenged before, with attempts like Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky and Donald Trump’s Truth Social failing to take off. But Meta has a history of making copycat products succeed. After all, it essentially copied the “stories” feature from Snap back in 2016 – and now more people use that format on Meta’s apps than use Snapchat. And that’s not to mention its “reels”, eerily similar to TikTok videos, which have been driving growth lately too. If Threads is an equally successful knockoff, it might just be a game-changer.

Zooming out: The star factor.

Let's be real: there's only one thing keeping folk on Twitter, and that’s the people they follow. Yes, Meta’s got a few strengths, like its uber-powerful infrastructure and its existing suite of apps, but to truly mount a challenge, it needs star power – and Instagram’s horde of celebrities and influencers could be the key. With that in mind, Musk might need to use all his clout to prevent his $44 billion purchase from turning to dust.

What’s going on here?

China made an audacious move in the trade war, restricting the export of two uber-important minerals.

What does this mean?

The West and China have long been in a mini tug-of-war, with the US clamping down on certain tech exports to China – especially in the chipmaking space – and Europe cooling its attitude toward the world’s second-biggest economy too. But two can play at that game, and China isn’t exactly known to back down. So, starting next month, it’ll be restricting the export of two key minerals – gallium and germanium. And these aren’t just any old rocks: they’re the lifeblood of semiconductor, telecommunication, EV, and solar cell industries. Among other things, that means the EU’s ambitious decarbonization plans could take a big hit, especially since the bloc heavily relies on China for those minerals right now.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Fool me twice.

The EU learned a hard lesson about over-reliance when Russia invaded Ukraine, leaving the bloc scrambling for alternative oil and gas supplies last year. And now a similar scenario could be unfolding with China. But some researchers reckon it’ll take at least a decade for the West to significantly reduce its reliance on China’s supply chains. And if things escalate, there’s more at stake: China’s $7 trillion consumer marketplace is a crucial destination for European exports – and that’s another big bargaining chip.

The bigger picture: Double-edged protectionism.

Recent trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies have made simmering international tempers a few degrees hotter – and that comes with some hefty drawbacks See, these moves can hit supply chains’ efficiency, curb competition, and hike up prices for consumers. And as an added kick in the teeth, they can put a damper on innovation and global economic growth too.