Just In: Twitter Reportedly Planning to Sue Newly Launched Threads

X Corp, the rebranded Twitter parent company, is reportedly planning to sue Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc over the newly launched social media platform Threads.

The Twitter Claims on the Meta Clone

According to the screenshot of a letter sent to Mark Zuckerberg by Quinn Emanuel, trial lawyers representing X Corp, Twitter has concerns that Meta has “engaged in a systematic, willful and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”

JUST IN:

Twitter is threatening to sue Facebook $META over its new Twitter Clone. pic.twitter.com/YmCJUJzWSJ

— WhaleWire (@WhaleWire) July 6, 2023

Buttressing the points in the allegation, the lawyers said Meta Platforms had hired dozens of former Twitter employees, most of whom still have access to Twitter’s trade secrets which might have been deployed into the design and eventual launch of the Threads app.

The grievance noted in the letter shows that Meta Platforms deliberately assigned these former employees with the wealth of knowledge carried over from Twitter to develop the Threads app which is a clone of the Elon Musk-owned platform in a matter of months. The lawyers believe the move violates both State and Federal Laws and might resort to civil litigation if its demands are unmet.

The demands appear mild for now and involve halting the usage of all Intellectual Property rights and trade secrets belonging to X Corp.

Competition Already Heating Up

In just about 24 hours since the Threads app launched, it has been recording a massive influx of users in what many are beginning to tag as a worthy competitor to the Elon Musk-owned app.

There have been a series of mockery tweets directed at the newly launched Threads app but the Zuckerberg team seems focused on gaining market share and establishing its footing as a major town square for social conversations.

Twitter CEO and Elon Musk’s successor, Linda Yaccarino took to the platform earlier today to shill the Bird App in what appears as a validation to keep users on the social media outfit. It is worthy of note that the Threads app was launched at a very strategic time when Elon Musk and the Twitter management are limiting tweet views for non-subscribers.

Since Musk took over, so many of the services that were once free are now being paid for, a disincentive that might push more users to the Threads arena.