Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) has warned that it might instigate legal proceedings against its competitor, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB), due to the striking similarities between their new app, Threads, and Twitter’s platform.
Threads, a text-based conversational app reminiscent of Twitter, was launched by Meta’s billionaire proprietor, Mark Zuckerberg, on Thursday. It garnered millions of users within just a few hours.
Despite the undeniable resemblance to Twitter, Elon Musk’s company has further alleged that Meta based its app on purloined intellectual property.
“Twitter harbours significant concerns that Meta has participated in a deliberate, systematic, and illicit appropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property,” stated Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, in a communique addressed to Zuckerberg.
He went on to say, “Over the previous year, Meta has taken on dozens of ex-Twitter employees who are privy to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly sensitive information.”
“Armed with this information, Meta intentionally tasked these employees with the creation of… Meta’s replica app, Threads.”
Spiro contended that Meta violated federal law by leveraging former Twitter employees to create the app. He also claimed these employees are potentially still obligated to their prior company in certain ways.
Since acquiring the social media giant for US$44bn in the previous October, Musk has dismissed thousands of Twitter employees in an attempt to trim costs.
This action appears to have backfired, with Musk’s Twitter formally demanding Meta retain documents linked to the employment and integration of its former employees.
In a separate development, Musk tweeted, “Competition is healthy, but dishonest practices are not.”
