In a recent development, Twitter has threatened to take legal action against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, over its newly launched Threads platform. The warning was conveyed through a letter sent by Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The dispute stems from allegations that Meta has hired former Twitter employees who had access to Twitter’s trade secrets and highly confidential information. According to a report by news website Semafor, Spiro accused Meta of leveraging this insider knowledge in the development of Threads. The letter, reportedly confirmed by a source familiar with its contents, called on Meta to immediately cease using any trade secrets or confidential information belonging to Twitter.
Twitter intends to aggressively protect its intellectual property rights, as stated by Spiro in the letter. However, the lawyer did not provide further details regarding the potential legal action Twitter may pursue. Reuters reached out to Spiro for comment, but he did not respond.
Meta, which launched the Threads platform on Wednesday, has already garnered over 30 million sign-ups. The platform aims to challenge Twitter, particularly in light of Elon Musk’s association with the microblogging giant. Meta plans to leverage Instagram’s vast user base in its bid to compete with Twitter.
In response to the allegations, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone denied that any former Twitter employees were involved in the Threads engineering team. Stone stated in a Threads post, “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”
A former senior Twitter employee, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that they were unaware of any former colleagues working on Threads or any senior personnel transitioning to Meta.
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, weighed in on the matter, responding to a tweet citing the news by stating, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
Meta, which owns Instagram in addition to Facebook, is no stranger to legal battles and antitrust scrutiny. This latest threat from Twitter adds to the challenges Meta faces as it seeks to diversify its social media offerings and compete with established platforms.
Trade secret theft claims require substantial evidence to support the allegations. Intellectual property law experts, including Stanford law professor Mark Lemley, have pointed out that merely hiring former Twitter employees and developing a similar platform may not be sufficient grounds for a successful trade secrets claim. They emphasize that Twitter would need to provide additional details to substantiate their case.
The Twitter-Meta conflict emerges amidst a series of controversial decisions made by Twitter, which have drawn criticism from both users and advertisers. Elon Musk’s recent decision to limit the number of tweets users can read per day has further fueled dissatisfaction with the platform.
As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how Twitter and Meta will navigate this potential legal battle and whether a resolution can be reached outside the courtroom.