Twitter has reportedly issued a threat to sue Meta Platforms over its recently launched Threads platform. According to news website Semafor, Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the company of “systematic, willful and unlawful misappropriation” of Twitter’s trade secrets. The launch of Threads by Meta, which has already garnered over 30 million sign-ups, poses a potential challenge to Elon Musk-owned Twitter by leveraging Instagram’s vast user base.
Twitter’s letter expressed serious concerns regarding Meta’s alleged use of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property without authorization. Spiro emphasized Twitter’s intention to enforce its intellectual property rights and demanded that Meta immediately cease using any confidential information belonging to Twitter.
In the letter, Spiro accused Meta of hiring former Twitter employees who still possess access to Twitter’s trade secrets and highly confidential information. While Threads bears some resemblance to Twitter in terms of its user interface, it currently lacks support for keyword searches and direct messages.
Both Meta and Alex Spiro have yet to respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the matter. As the competition between Twitter and Meta intensifies, especially following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, the legal dispute over the Threads platform could further escalate the rivalry.
