- Twitter threatened a lawsuit, claiming that Threads violates Twitter’s “intellectual property rights”.
- Meta claimed that no one in the engineering team at Threads is a former Twitter employee.
- Elon Musk, in response to a tweet citing the news said, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
- Some analysts are also saying Meta’s new app could be a significant headache for Twitter.
Twitter Threatens to Sue Meta Over Threads. Elon Musk‘s lawyer accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets”. Threads, the app launched by Meta to take on struggling Twitter, has run into legal trouble just hours after its launch. While the app has already gained over 50 million users since being launched, its rival has threatened a lawsuit, claiming that Threads violates Twitter’s “intellectual property rights”.
Elon Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro has written to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing him of “unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property”. The letter accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.”
“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” Alex Spiro wrote in the letter. Elon Musk, in response to a tweet citing the news said, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
Meta claimed that no one in the engineering team at Threads is a former Twitter employee.
Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but not yet replace one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, despite its struggles. On Threads, people can post text and links and reply to or repost messages from others – an offering similar to Twitter’s.
Instagram and Facebook, both owned by Meta, have a long – and successful – history of copying products from upstart internet competitors. The company’s Reels feature was a knockoff of TikTok’s viral video app, and its Stories disappearing posts followed the rise of Snapchat.
Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has also not publicly commented on the letter, but seemingly appeared to address Threads’ launch in a tweet. “We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated,” Yaccarino wrote.
Meanwhile, Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch. The Meta’s new platform has emerged as the first real threat to Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.
“The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Meta: Stellar execution and an easy-to-navigate user interface,” a news agency reported quoting an eminent analyst.
Some analysts are also saying Meta’s new app could be a significant headache for Twitter — pointing to the excitement surrounding Threads’ launch and impressive download numbers so far. The app arrives at a time when many are looking for Twitter alternatives to escape Elon Musk’s raucous oversight of the platform since acquiring it last year for $44 billion.
(With inputs from agencies)
