Twitter is making legal threats against Meta’s new social media service, Threads. According to a letter posted by Semafor, an attorney for Twitter claims that Threads is a “copycat” app developed by hiring former Twitter employees and utilizing trade secrets of the company. The author of the letter, attorney Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, hasn’t responded to comment requests. Meta declined to comment on the letter, but Andy Stone, communications director, denied any former Twitter employees on the Threads engineering team.
Twitter, which laid off its communications staff after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
The threatening letter comes after the successful debut of Threads, which Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced had gained 30 million new users within hours of its release. Threads bears similarities to Twitter, enabling users to like or repost messages. However, it leverages the popularity of Instagram by allowing users from that platform to follow their existing Instagram userbase.
“Our vision is to combine the best elements of Instagram and create a new text-based experience for sharing ideas and discussing topics,” said Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an Instagram post. “I believe the world needs this kind of friendly community, and I’m grateful for everyone who has joined Threads from day one.”
Musk, who acquired Twitter last year, criticized Threads in a tweet, stating, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
Threads’ entry into the social media landscape comes at a crucial time for Musk and Twitter. Some users have expressed dissatisfaction with recent changes implemented by Musk, including the limitation on the number of tweets nonpaying users can view per day. Additionally, Twitter has seen a surge in hate speech since Musk’s acquisition of the platform.
In the letter addressed to Zuckerberg, Twitter alleges that Meta hired multiple former Twitter employees who had access to the company’s trade secrets and confidential information. Spiro claims that Threads was developed within months by capitalizing on the knowledge of these ex-Twitter employees.
“Twitter has serious concerns that Meta Platforms has engaged in systemic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property,” wrote Spiro.
Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, Spiro added.
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