Twitter Sends Meta A Cease-And-Desist Letter Over New Competitor Threads!

Things are getting feisty on social media!

Thursday was a big day for the internet with the launch of a brand new social platform primed to dethrone Twitter. Meta finally launched their new competitor, Threads, which is basically an extension of Instagram meant to provide a home for everyone who is fed up with Elon Musk‘s control of Twitter but still wants a place to go to start conversations.

Within hours of the launch, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed they’d already signed up 30 million users, including Kim Kardashian and Shakira. So, it’s a great day for Meta — or it was…

Now, Twitter is firing back with legal action as they try to get the battling app shut down!

According to sources familiar with the situation via ABC News, Twitter sent a cease-and-desist letter to Threads owner Meta on Thursday, claiming the company used the bird app’s trade secrets to get the new platform up and running, such as hiring ex-Twitter employees who retained proprietary info. The letter, which was signed by lawyer Alex Spiro, stated:

“Over the past year, Meta has hired dozens of former Twitter employees. Twitter knows that these employees previously worked at Twitter; that these employees had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information; that these employees owe ongoing obligations to Twitter; and that many of these employees have improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices.”

It continued:

“With that knowledge, Meta deliberately assigned these employees to develop, in a matter of months, Meta’s copycat ‘Threads’ app with the specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property in order to accelerate the development of Meta’s competing app, in violation of both state and federal law as well as those employees’ ongoing obligations to Twitter.”

Uh oh…

As we all know, the SpaceX founder has pretty much singlehandedly been destroying Twitter since purchasing the company last year. And he’s not just ruining the user experience for many, he also fired roughly 75% of the workforce to save costs, per ABC News. So, yeah, no wonder there were so many former employees eager to support a competitor! In a tweet about the legal filing, Elon said:

“Competition is fine, cheating is not”

In an iconic clap back, Mark tweeted for the first time in 11 YEARS on Wednesday night. While he hadn’t been slammed with the legal issue yet, he was seemingly poking fun at all the comparisons between the two apps by posting the popular meme of two Spider-Mans pointing at each other. Ch-ch-check it out!