Twitter Gets Feisty: Seeking Legal Action Over Meta’s Threads App
The launch of Threads, Instagram’s answer to Twitter, may lead to a legal showdown between Elon Musk’s Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.
Earlier this week, Meta’s Instagram unveiled Threads, a text-focused social app riding on Instagram’s existing infrastructure and user base. According to Zuckerberg, the app already boasted over 30 million sign-ups as of Thursday morning.
According to Semafor (a new news platform), in a cease-and-desist letter dated July 5, Twitter’s legal representative accused Meta of “serious concerns.” More specifically, over the alleged deliberate and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and intellectual property. The letter warned that Twitter intends to aggressively protect its rights. They demanded immediate action from Meta to stop using any “confidential information” belonging to Twitter.
The letter also claimed that Meta had intentionally recruited a significant number of Twitter employees over the past year. (It’s worth mentioning that Musk noted in an interview with the BBC in April that he fired about 80% of the company’s staff.) The letter says that Meta quickly assigned them to develop a copycat app called Threads. They argue that this is a violation of both state and federal laws. Twitter also argues that this is a violation of the obligations these employees had to the company.
In response, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone referred to a Threads post, denying that any members of the Threads engineering team were former Twitter employees.
Elon Musk chimed in on Twitter, stating, “Competition is fine, cheating is not,” in response to Twitter’s legal threat against Meta.
Musk acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal in October 2022. Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, who recently joined the company after leaving NBCUniversal, posted a tweet on Thursday indirectly referencing Threads, emphasizing the uniqueness and irreplaceability of the Twitter community.
Threads: Celebrities Join Threads - The 'Twitter Killer' App
Threads, the Twitter alternative created by Meta, has been officially released and gained ten million sign-ups within its first seven hours, as confirmed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The platform has already garnered significant support from various celebrities.
If you take a peek at Threads, you’ll notice that it shamelessly resembles Twitter. It’s no secret that Meta is aiming to lure users away from Elon Musk’s struggling platform. The site made its grand debut, poised to give Twitter a run for its money in a way that previous alternatives like Mastodon and Bluesky couldn’t quite achieve.
The “Twitter Killer” App
Created by the Instagram team, this fresh app offers a platform for sharing text updates and participating in public conversations. With this app, you have the freedom to create posts up to 500 characters in length, incorporating links, photos, and videos that can be up to 5 minutes long.
Since Musk assumed control of Twitter late last year, numerous Twitter users have expressed their desire for an alternative platform. Technical glitches and frequent policy changes have prompted some prominent Twitter users to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
Meta has a distinct advantage in terms of its existing user base. With over 2 billion active Instagram users worldwide, Meta aims to attract a significant portion of them to its new app. In contrast, Twitter’s active user base stands at approximately 250 million.
Zuckerberg’s hopeful
“It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it,” Zuckerberg said in a Threads post. “Twitter has had the opportunity do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”
The roster of celebrity names jumping on board continues to grow. Shakira, Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, and Kourtney Kardashian, have started accounts. So has Will Smith, and Jennifer Lopez, who have all hopped on the Threads and already have tens of thousands of followers.
Thanks to the carryover of usernames and verification from Instagram, Threads can effortlessly assemble an impressive lineup of famous faces and brands. And it’s not just Hollywood stars joining the party. Jack Harlow, Zayn Malik, Gordon Ramsay, Karlie Kloss, Liam Payne, Ellie Goulding, and even the Dalai Lama have been spotted logging on to the app.
Take a look at celebrity posts extending a warm welcome to the new app.
Kayla is the midday host on Detroit’s 105.1 The Bounce. She started her career in radio back in 2016 as an intern at another Detroit station and worked her way here. She's made stops in Knoxville, TN, Omaha, Ne and other places before returning to Detroit. She’s done almost everything in radio from promotions to web, creating content on social media, you name it.
She’s a true Michigander, born and raised. So, you can catch her camping or vacationing up north to exploring the downtown Detroit or maybe even catching a sports game. During her free time, Kayla enjoys watching movies, roller-skating, crafting, and music festivals. She and her husband together dip into many of the great things Michigan has to offer. Together they also like to travel.
A few hobbies of hers include wine and beer tastings, crafting, hiking, roller skating, movies, home improvement projects, gardening, and festivals. She’s always looking to take on more local events happening in the community.
She loves connecting with the community. When writing, Kayla covers topics including lifestyle, pop culture, trending stories, hacks, and urban culture.
