Twitter Threatens To Sue Meta After Rival App Threads Gains Traction

In what may be the clearest indication yet that Twitter sees Meta as a competitive threat, Twitter has threatened Meta with legal action following the successful launch of Meta’s new Twitter rival, Threads.

A lawyer for Twitter accused Meta of stealing trade secrets by employing former Twitter employees in a letter that was addressed to CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday.

The letter, sent by Alex Spiro, an outside lawyer for Twitter founder Elon Musk, accused Meta of “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”

Musk responded to the letter reports by tweeting, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”

According to the letter, Meta hired former Twitter employees who “improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices,” and Meta “deliberately” involved these individuals in the development of Threads.

“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights,” Spiro continued, “and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information.”

Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, categorically ignored the letter. “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing,” he said on the platform.

Zuckerberg reported that 30 million users signed up for Threads on its first day, demonstrating the app’s explosive growth.

Threads was the number one free app on the iOS App Store as of Thursday afternoon.

SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES