BY JAMES SCOTT/ JULY 9, 2023
Twitter does not appear pleased with the meteoric rise in popularity of Threads, a rival to Twitter that was released just last night by Meta. Threads has over 30 million users in under 24 hours, making it the most formidable competitor to Twitter.
According to Semafor, Twitter attorney Alex Spiro yesterday sent a letter accusing Meta of "systemic, willful, and lawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property." The letter was sent in PDF format.
Twitter asserts that Meta employed "dozens" of its former workers, many of whom "had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information."
In addition, the firm asserts that the workers "improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices" and that Meta took advantage of this fact to have those workers construct the "copycat" Threads program on an accelerated timetable.
When Elon Musk took over as CEO of Twitter, he immediately fired hundreds of people, forcing them to seek employment elsewhere. Although it is possible that some of those workers moved on to Meta, it is generally not considered poaching to hire people already looking for work.
In the letter that Twitter sent to Meta, the firm stated that it intended to "enforce its intellectual property rights" and that it demanded that Meta "take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets."
Twitter has indicated that it will exercise its right to seek "civil remedies and injunctive relief" if Meta continues using Twitter's intellectual property without permission.