After the launch of Threads — a Twitter alternative from Instagram — the Elon Musk-owned social media company is now reportedly threatening legal action.
A purported screenshot of an email from Alex Spiro, an attorney representing X Corp. — the parent company to Twitter — to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reads, “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 systemic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property,” according to a report from Semafor’s Maxwell Tani.
“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” Spiro wrote in a letter obtained exclusively by Semafor. “Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.”
On Wednesday, Instagram debuted Threads, a text-based social media app with a striking resemblance to Twitter. Spiro alleged that Meta hired several former Twitter employees to create a “copycat” app.
The upstart app saw 10 million users sign up in the first seven hours. That number has since risen to over 30 million.
