Twitter threatens legal action over Threads app

Twitter is considering legal action against Meta over its fast-growing rival app Threads.

Threads, which launched to millions on Wednesday, is similar to Twitter and has been pitched by Meta bosses as a “friendly” alternative.

Twitter’s Elon Musk said “competition is fine, cheating is not” – but Meta denied claims in a legal letter that ex-Twitter employees helped create threads.

More than 30 million people have signed up for the new app, according to Meta.

The look and feel of Threads is similar to Twitter, noted BBC News technology reporter James Clayton. He said the news feed and reposting was incredibly familiar.

In a move first reported by news outlet Semafor, Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday accusing Meta of “systematic, intentional and illegal misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property” to create Threads .

Specifically, Spiro alleged that Meta hired dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information” that ultimately helped Meta develop what he called the “copycat” Threads app.

“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights and requires Meta to take immediate steps to stop using Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” the letter said.

“Twitter reserves all rights, including but not limited to, the right to seek both civil and injunctive remedies without further notice.”

BBC News, which has seen a copy of the letter, has contacted both Meta and Twitter for comment.

Musk said that “competition is fine, cheating is not” in response to a post on Twitter that referenced the legal letter.

At Threads, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted that “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee – that’s just a no-brainer”.

Both Mr Musk and Mr Zuckerberg have acknowledged the rivalry surrounding Threads, which is linked to Instagram but operates as a standalone app.

As it launched in 100 countries, Zuckerberg broke more than 11 years of silence on Twitter to post a wildly popular meme of two nearly identical Spider-Man figures pointing at each other, indicating a distance.

Shortly after, as the word “threads” became a global trend on his platform, Musk said: “It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than to indulge in the false joy of hiding your pain on Instagram .”

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a tweet Thursday that while the platform, which previously reported 260 million monthly users, is “often imitated,” it “can never be duplicated.”

Both Meta and Twitter have made significant layoffs this year, with Meta announcing in April that it would cut roughly 10,000 employees.

Twitter lost about half of its 7,500 employees in waves of layoffs following Musk’s takeover last October.