Twitter threatens to sue Meta over Threads app: Report

Semafor was the first to report on the letter. However, the veracity of the letter was confirmed to CNN by a source with knowledge of the situation, ANI reported. 

In a letter, Alex Spiro, an outside lawyer for Twitter owner Elon Musk, claimed that Meta had committed “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”

“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,” Spiro wrote in the letter.

“Competition is fine, cheating is not,” Elon Musk tweeted after the successful launch of the Threads application. 

The new app has seen a very successful launch, as Zuckerberg has revealed that more than ten million users signed up within the first seven hours, dwarfing the launch of some other popular platforms.

Spiro also noted the company’s right to seek civil remedies or injunctive relief. He added that the letter marked a “formal notice” for Meta to preserve documents relevant for a potential dispute between the companies.

Andy Stone, Meta spokesperson, responded to the report, writing, “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing”.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has also not publicly commented on Wednesday’s letter, but seemingly appeared to address Threads’ launch in a Thursday tweet.

“We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated,” Yaccarino wrote.

Meanwhile, Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, reported Reuters. The Meta’s new platform has emerged as the first real threat to Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.

“The cage match has started, and Zuckerberg delivered a major blow. In many ways, it’s exactly what you’d expect from Meta: Stellar execution and an easy-to-navigate user interface,” Reuters reported quoting Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg as saying. 

Some analysts are also saying Meta’s new app could be a significant headache for Twitter — pointing to the excitement surrounding Threads’ launch and impressive download numbers so far.

The app arrives at a time when many are looking for Twitter alternatives to escape Elon Musk’s raucous oversight of the platform since acquiring it last year for $44 billion.

Updated: 07 Jul 2023, 07:44 AM IST