Meta Threads has been a major success. As the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, said, the new social media platform has crossed 10 million users in just seven hours after launch. For a new platform, this is a big number to cross. And it seems that the success of the social media platform is now getting some negative attention.
Twitter is preparing to sue Meta over the launch of Threads. After all, the new platform serves as a direct competitor to the micro-blogging social network. A Twitter lawyer sent a letter to Meta, alleging a violation of multiple intellectual property rights.
Based on current information, Elon Musk, Twitter’s current executive chair and CTO, does not want any competition.
What Did the Letter to Meta for Threads Say?
The letter was to Meta was sent by a Twitter lawyer named Alex Spiro. It basically accuses Mark Zuckerberg and says the following:
“Dear Mr. Zuckerberg:
I write on behalf of X Corp., as successor in interest to Twitter, Inc. (“Twitter”). Based on recent reports regarding your recently launched “Threads” app, Twitter has serious concerns that Meta Platforms (“Meta”) has engaged in systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
The Twitter lawyer has also accused Meta of hiring former Twitter employees. According to Spiro, these former employees had access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential info. The lawyer says that Meta assigned these employees to develop the new platform with the sole intent to use the trade secrets of Twitter.
He adds that Meta had the intent to accelerate the Threads app by using those trade secrets. This basically means that Meta was in violation of both the employees stationed at Meta and state and federal law. The full letter that was sent to Mark Zuckerberg for Threads is attached below.
Musk Says “Competition is Fine, Cheating Is Not”
Andy Stone, the communications director of Meta, says that the accusations are baseless. He argues that no engineer at Threads is a former Twitter employee. With this statement, Andy is saying that the competitor platform was made from scratch and without the use of the so-called trade secrets of Twitter.
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To this, Musk displayed his frustration with a tweet. The tweet reads, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.” An interesting thing to note here is there have been many competitors before Threads. For example, there is Bluesky and Mastodon. Both of them could not pick such a stream, and Musk’s response to them was not the same.
Competition is fine, cheating is not
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2023
What All of This Actually Means to Twitter and Threads
All of this means that Elon Musk considers Threads as a real threat to Twitter. Just recently, Zuckerberg reported that the platform now has 30 million users. And the social media app has been up for just one day. Again, 30 million users on the first day is not a small matter. And it is bound to pick up a lot of attention.
On that note, the CEO of Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, has a different opinion regarding the matter. Her latest tweet says, “We’re often imitated – but the Twitter community can never be duplicated.” In other words, Linda does not see Threads as a threat. Instead, she thinks that Twitter will still hold its position even with all the success that the new platform is achieving. The full tweet of the CEO is attached below:
On Twitter, everyone's voice matters.
Whether you’re here to watch history unfold, discover REAL-TIME information all over the world, share your opinions, or learn about others — on Twitter YOU can be real.
YOU built the Twitter community. 🙏👏 And that's irreplaceable. This…
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 6, 2023
At this moment, it’s unclear how the legal proceedings regarding the matter will hold in court. There’s no certainty regarding whether the situation will materialize into something like that. But if Threads does not have any former Twitter engineers, Musk will fall out of favor with the judge. We will keep you updated if more information comes up regarding the matter.
