Elon Musk is threatening to take legal action against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg following Wednesday’s debut of Threads, a social media app that allegedly utilizes Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.
In a letter addressed to Zuckerberg on behalf of X Corp (“Twitter”), attorney Alex Spiro wrote, “Based on recent reports regarding your recently launched ‘Threads’ app, Twitter has serious concerns that Meta Platforms (‘Meta’) has engaged in systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
The letter further alleged that Meta “has hired dozens of former Twitter employees … [that] continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets or other highly confidential information.”
In response to Musk’s legal threat against Meta, company spokesperson Andy Stone wrote that “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing,” according to Semafor.
While a formal lawsuit has not been filed, Spiro explained in the letter that Twitter “intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights” and that the letter acts as a “formal notice” to Meta to preserve all documents relevant to the dispute.
“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,” Spiro wrote.
Meta’s Threads joins a portfolio that already includes the top three most popular social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Although Threads had amassed millions of sign-ups in the first 24 hours, many users claimed they were subject to immediate alleged censorship on the new text-based social media platform.
“@Meta/IG just released their new threads platform and I’ve been informed by multiple users that I’m censored on their new platform,” one new Threads user ironically took to Twitter to say.
“Sheesh, can’t a dude catch a break. @elonmusk doesn’t have me censored,” he added.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the launch of Meta’s new Threads app coincides with the Justice Department’s move to appeal a judge ruling that blocked the Biden administration from certain interactions with social media companies.
Some have questioned how Threads will protect user privacy, with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey chiming into the discussion by noting in a tweet that all user threads would be owned by Meta according to the app’s privacy policy.
Rivalry between the two social media platforms has long been the norm, but Musk seemingly considers the potential lawsuit a matter of principle.
“Competition is fine, cheating is not,” Musk said in a Twitter post.
