Meta executive asserts that Threads aims to establish a more peaceful environment, rather than serving as a substitute for Twitter.

In an effort to cultivate a more positive digital environment, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, which is owned by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, stated that the recently launched platform Threads is not meant to replace Twitter, but rather to establish a “less angry place.”

Mosseri explained in a Threads post, “The goal isn’t to replace Twitter. The goal is to create a public square for communities on Instagram that never really embraced Twitter and for communities on Twitter (and other platforms) that are interested in a less angry place for conversations, but not all of Twitter.”

Threads has been viewed as a direct competitor to Twitter, which has faced controversy since its acquisition by Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, last year.

Addressing concerns about political and hard news content on Threads, Mosseri stated that while such topics may appear on the platform, there is no intention to actively encourage them. He disagreed with a Verge reporter who suggested that directly competing with Twitter would require including these specific content verticals.

Mosseri emphasized, “Politics and hard news are important, I don’t want to imply otherwise. But my take is, from a platform’s perspective, any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them.”

He added, “There are more than enough amazing communities — sports, music, fashion, beauty, entertainment, etc — to make a vibrant platform without needing to get into politics or hard news.”

His remarks followed Twitter’s threat of a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of accessing and misusing its trade secrets and intellectual property. Twitter also claimed that Meta poached its employees to develop Threads.