Twitter, the popular social media platform, recently raised concerns about Meta's new Threads app. According to a letter obtained by Semafor, Twitter is considering taking legal action against Meta for alleged misuse of trade secrets and intellectual property.
The letter, addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is from Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro. Spiro claims that Meta utilized Twitter's trade secrets and intellectual property to develop the Threads app.
Chanuka Nadun Perera
Furthermore, he argues that Meta hired several ex-Twitter employees, who may still have access to Twitter's confidential information, to work on the app. This allegation gains significance due to the substantial employee turnover after Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.
Twitter asserts that Meta took advantage of these ex-employees knowledge and tasked them with creating a "copycat" app, which is deemed a violation of state and federal law. Consequently, Twitter is considering legal action in the form of civil remedies and injunctive relief.
Post by @andymstoneView on Threads
The company demands that Meta immediately cease using Twitter trade secrets or confidential information. Additionally, Twitter explicitly states that Meta is prohibited from crawling or scraping Twitter's data.
In response to Twitter's letter, Meta, through its communications director Andy Stone, posted a response on the Threads app. Stone denies the presence of any former Twitter employees on the Threads engineering team, dismissing the notion raised by Spiro.
This stance suggests that Meta is not particularly concerned about the allegations made by Twitter. It is worth noting that Twitter has a history of resorting to legal threats, as seen in its previous accusation against Microsoft for API misuse.
Meta recently launched the Threads app, which gained significant traction within a short span of time. Celebrities and brands were among the first to embrace the new platform.
Impressively, within 24 hours of its launch, Threads amassed over 30 million registered users. Internal data, as revealed by The Verge's Alex Heath, indicates that users have already created an astonishing 95 million threads.
Elon Musk, known for his involvement with both Twitter and Meta, commented on the situation. In response to a post about the letter on Twitter, Musk emphasized the importance of fair competition, stating, "Competition is fine, cheating is not." Musk's input adds an intriguing dimension to the ongoing dispute, hinting at a potential clash between these tech giants.
The conflict between Twitter and Meta over the Threads app showcases the intense competition and potential legal battles that arise within the tech industry.
As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how these companies will navigate the challenges and the impact this dispute may have on the future of their relationship.
Sources: semafor.com / theverge.com
