Twitter Threatens Legal Action Against Meta Over New App Threads, Alleges Intellectual Property Infringement

Twitter has issued a threat of legal action against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, regarding its recently launched app called Threads. In a letter sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s attorney accused Meta of employing former Twitter employees to create a similar app that unlawfully utilizes Twitter’s trade secrets and intellectual property.

The tensions between the two social media giants have escalated following the introduction of Threads, which aims to attract users looking for alternatives to Twitter amidst controversial changes made by Elon Musk since his acquisition of the platform.

Meta’s spokesperson denied the allegations, stating that no members of the Threads engineering team have any previous affiliation with Twitter. Twitter has expressed its intention to rigorously enforce its intellectual property rights and explore legal remedies, as mentioned in the letter.

In response to speculation about the potential legal action, Musk commented on the importance of fair competition. Meta has not responded to the letter publicly, and Twitter provided a generic automated reply to media inquiries.

While Threads has garnered attention and significant downloads, industry experts highlight Meta’s history of discontinuing standalone apps and emphasize that Threads is still in its early stages. Additionally, privacy concerns have emerged, with the app being unavailable in the European Union due to the region’s strict data privacy regulations.