According to a Semafor report, Twitter is threatening to sue Meta regarding the recently launched Threads app. Twitter is “accusing the social media giant of poaching former employees to create a “copycat” application”.
Just four hours after the Threads launch on Wednesday evening, it crossed 5 million signups. A couple of hours ago, Mark Zuckerberg said that it has already crossed over 30 million signups since its debut. Shortly thereafter, Twitter’s legal representative, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging that the company had committed “systematic, deliberate, and illegal misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
In the letter, Spiro claimed that Meta hired dozens of former Twitter employees; saying that Twitter knows that these employees previously worked at Twitter and that these employees had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information. He also added that these employees owed ongoing obligations to Twitter; and that many of these employees had improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices.
He accused Meta of deliberately “assigned these employees to develop, in a matter of months, Meta’s copycat “Threads” app with specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual propoerty in order to accelerate the development of Meta’s competing app, in violation of both state and federal law as well as those employees’ ongoing obligations to Twitter.”
“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.”
“Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.”
Having signed up for Threads myself, I must say Threads is more like a clone of Twitter. I wonder whether this is legal or not. Mark Zuckerberg poked fun at the resemblance in a tweet posted for the first time in eleven years.
By the way, I never knew Mark Zuckerberg had a Twitter account by this tweet.
Initially, Elon Musk did not say anything about the Threads launch, but Twitter’s newly appointed CEO, Linda Yaccarino, appeared to strategically aim a comment at Threads.
However some hours later, Musk kinda referred to Threads as cheating instead of competition in a tweet.
Threads is now live in over 100 countries outside of the EU due to data privacy concerns. It is steadily gaining acceptance where similar apps like Mastodon and Bluesky have struggled in the wake of Twitter’s troubles
Twitter’s letter shows that it perceives Threads to be a significant threat and given its affiliation with other Meta platforms and Meta’s deep pockets, the ensuing battle could potentially be prolonged.
