8-7-2023 (SAN FRANCISCO) Twitter has issued a threat to sue Meta, claiming that its new app Threads is a “copycat” of Twitter and accuses Meta of poaching former employees, according to reports from Semafor. Meta vehemently denies the allegations.
Meta, led by Elon Musk, launched its text-focused social media app Threads on Wednesday, which appeared to be built on top of Instagram. The platform gained significant attention, amassing over 30 million users within 24 hours, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Unsurprisingly, the high-profile arrival of the new social media app drew a strong reaction from Musk, who retaliated after Zuckerberg teased him on Twitter. Musk responded, “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” in reply to a meme posted by Zuckerberg.
Now, Musk is threatening legal action against Meta following a series of setbacks that caused Twitter’s value to decline and turned it into a hub of abuse.
Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Zuckerberg, accusing Meta of engaging in “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property,” as quoted by Semafor. Spiro further alleged that Meta had hired numerous former Twitter employees who possessed insider knowledge of trade secrets.
In response, a source from Meta defended the company, stating that Spiro’s accusations were baseless. The source clarified that none of the engineers on the Threads team had previously worked for Twitter, refuting the claims made by Twitter’s lawyer.
Undoubtedly, Meta’s new app, positioned as a competitor to Twitter, has gained significant momentum with a substantial number of users signing up for the service.
However, it remains uncertain whether Meta utilized any intellectual property from Twitter to achieve its success.
It appears that Musk’s frustrations primarily stem from Zuckerberg’s actions and he is responding with criticism and threats of legal action.
