Twitter has threatened to sue Meta just one day after it launched a new rival app.

Threads saw 30 million users sign up within 24 hours of going live.

But now Twitter boss Elon Musk has sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, via his lawyer Alex Spiro, warning of potential legal action.

The letter says: ‘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.’

It claims that Meta has hired ‘dozens’ of former Twitter employees and that they have access to the company’s ‘trade secrets’.

Mr Spiro also says that many of these employees have ‘improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices’.

He wrote: ‘Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information.’

Threads is trying to compete with Twitter by taking advantage of Instagram’s billions of users.

Since Mr Musk’s takeover of the social media platform, Twitter has seen competition from Mastodon and Bluesky among others.

The Threads user interface, however, has a striking resemblance to the microblogging platform.

Mr Zuckerberg only announced the new app on Tuesday, calling it an app built for ‘sharing with text’.

At first glance, the app features an unmistakable Twitter-like feed in Instagram’s signature design.

‘Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations,’ said Mr Zuckerberg in an announcement.

With Threads, Meta is also trying its hand at a ‘decentralised’ approach like many Twitter alternatives.

Mr Zuckerberg added: ‘We are working toward making Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet.’

More to follow.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article