Twitter threatens legal action over Threads app
Elon Musk’s Twitter is considering legal action after Meta launched its own version of the social media app, called Threads.
Threads launched on Wednesday, and saw millions sign up. The social media site has been pitched as a “friendly” alternative to Twitter, which under Musk, appears to have become a bigger hotbed for misinformation and bullying.
In response to the launch of Threads, Musk said “Competition is fine, cheating is not.” But Meta has denied claims in a legal letter that ex-Twitter staff helped to create Threads.
Threads has been described as being very similar in look and feel to Twitter. It has similar news feeds and reposting features.
In a move first reported by news outlet Semafor, Twitter attorney Alex Spiro sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday accusing Meta of “systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property” to create Threads.
Spiro alleges Meta had hired dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information” that ultimately helped Meta develop what he termed the “copycat” Threads app.
On Threads, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted that “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee – that’s just not a thing”.
