Threads is now bigger than X, and that’s terrible for free speech

Move over X! The public square has a new mayor. The latest user metrics show that, for the first time ever, Threads surpassed X in monthly active users worldwide, and it’s on track to rise even further. At the same time, X continues to decline, spelling disaster for the world's free-speech platform. Will censorship run rampant on the global stage, or is there still hope that X can bounce back? Let’s find out ...

Threads has more daily users than X, but it’s not what you think

In a graph compiled by Similarweb, September shows that Threads just barely eked ahead of X in monthly active users, coming in at 130.2 million daily users compared to X’s 130.1 million users. The difference between them is razor-thin, but it’s still significant for one big reason: September 2025 marks the very first time that Threads surpassed X since the platform launched on July 5, 2023.

Graphic by Zach Laidlaw

Another quick look at the graph outlines a second alarming stat — X, marked in orange, is on a clear downward slide, while Threads, highlighted in blue, is climbing upward. Now that both have intersected, it’s likely that they will trade places permanently, giving Threads the crown over X in active monthly users worldwide.

Threads stands to gain it all and shift the political narrative back in favor of the left.

But it’s not all bad news. Threads may be king around the globe, but X still leads on mobile in the U.S. market with 21.3 million daily users over Threads’ 16.2 million daily active mobile users. The disparity is even larger for website visits, with 140.7 million daily active users flocking to X.com versus a paltry 7.7 million daily users on Threads.com.

So why worry if X is still ahead of Threads in the United States? There are several causes for concern:

The great social media reset

Now that Threads is the new worldwide digital town square, it’s only a matter of time until the U.S. market takes a hit. The first major paradigm shift will come from brands as they pull advertising dollars from X and invest in Threads with its wider global reach. Advertisers have already dropped X in the past, and Elon Musk sued to reverse it, though there may not be much he can do if brands simply decide to prioritize a more active platform.

Next, users will continue to drop off in favor of Threads’ growing community. They’ll follow their friends and relatives to Meta’s platform, further hitting X’s bottom line. If X loses enough traction after that, it will either recede into obscurity or worse, it could dissolve entirely.

The end of online free speech

As a bastion of free speech, X is the premiere open platform with the least amount of political censorship. While Americans can exercise these rights on X, the rise of Threads opens the door for greater censorship around the world, especially in countries where X is already banned.

If X topples entirely, no U.S. citizen is safe from the next Democrat president reinstating the oppressive censorship tactics from the Biden administration. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg claims to be a proponent of free speech these days, but does anyone trust him to keep his word in the next administration? I’m not holding my breath.

The echo chamber wars

Just as pre-Musk Twitter was a left-leaning echo chamber for liberal ideas, X could become the same thing for the right. More left-leaning users will undoubtedly flee to Threads to shore up their online political stronghold, and X will morph into a right-wing haven primarily for conservative values.

It might sound like a good idea to give both sides their places to gather online in peace, but the truth is a little more grim. Echo chambers of any kind have consequences, and society is better off without them. We need an online space — like X — where the two sides engage in civil debate, a fact that the late Charlie Kirk knew well. In Charlie’s own words, “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence ... because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity.”

X is more than its user metrics

Looking at raw data, the graph is clear: X has been on a steady decline for years dating back to Elon Musk’s acquisition. At the same time, Threads has continued to grow month over month, and it doesn’t show any signs of stopping. If the trend plays out, X is at real risk of losing its power in the social and political landscape, while Threads stands to gain it all and shift the political narrative back in favor of the left.

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Photo by Alex Wong / Contributor via Getty Images

That said, X’s U.S. momentum is still going strong, providing enough engagement to keep the platform relevant, at least for the time being. X is also so much more than a social media app — it’s a hub for xAI and Grok, a PR machine for SpaceX, a launchpad for the new Vine, a budding financial platform, and more. Musk is betting big on X as a holistic lifestyle product that transcends its social roots. The new strategy provides multiple engagement points to grow the userbase outside of X alone, keep users locked in every day, and make sure they come back for more, Threads be damned.