Twitter has sent a note to Meta threatening to sue the company for launching rival platform Threads. The hill brings it back.
The two pages, sent out by Madison Avenue-based New York law firm Quinn Emanuel, accuse Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg not only of “copying” Twitter with the creation of the new social app Threads, but also of industrial espionage and intellectual property theft Ownership through hiring dozens of former employees fired by Elon Musk.
The news came less than twenty-four hours after the launch of the app, which has already registered thirty million users and threatens to plunge Twitter into a crisis. The social network Meta can count on a base of two billion Instagram users who can automatically create a new account on threads and include followers with one click. Musk has about 353 million users, but it’s steadily declining, with percentages hovering around 3 percent and expected to see declines through 2024. In the scathing letter to Zuckerberg, published by investigative journalist site Semafor, attorney Alex Spiro accused Musk’s attorney Meta of “systematic, voluntary, and illegal appropriation of Twitter secrets and other intellectual property.” “We’re aware,” the lawyer continues, “that Meta intentionally assigned these employees (formerly Twitter, ed.) to develop the Threads copy in a few months.” The secrets of Musk’s platform would have been used to accelerate the birth of the app. The letter urged Meta to “take immediate action to end the use of any trade secret or highly confidential information.” “Twitter reserves all rights, including but not limited to, taking civil action without notice,” he continued.
The new lawsuit follows Musk’s challenge on social media to Zuckerberg, both martial arts enthusiasts. The Meta founder had asked to be shown a seat for the challenge in the ring after a post from Musk inviting him to a duel. This project, which was probably just a social gimmick, is unlikely to have a sequel given the upcoming legal battle.
Meta’s response: No engineer is a former Twitter employee
“To be clear, no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee, the fact just doesn’t exist.” Andy Stone, Meta’s communications director, puts it on Threads.