Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, has accused Meta of hiring dozens of Twitter employees to launch its new Threads app, which is seen as a direct competitor to Twitter. “Competition is fine, cheating is not,” said Elon Musk on Threads.
A new player has appeared in the constantly changing social media ecosystem, competing for users’ interest and participation on a global scale. With its cutting-edge features and alluring user interface, Meta’s newest project, Threads, attempts to threaten Twitter’s hegemony.
The pioneering businessman behind Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, has always been at the forefront of technical development. Musk, who is well-known for his innovative concepts and large-scale endeavors, is also a vocal participant on social media, particularly on Twitter, which he literally owns. His thoughts and perceptions, therefore, have influence and interest in the online world.
Elon Musk on Threads: You stole our ex-employees
Twitter’s legal representative Alex Spiro accused Meta in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday of “systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property” in order to create Threads.
In further detail, Mr. Spiro said that Meta had hired a sizable number of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information” and who subsequently helped Meta create what he called the “copycat” Threads software.
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“It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than to indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram,” said Elon Musk on Threads. Musk added a legal threat against Meta to his tweet as an addition. According to the lawsuit, Meta lured former Twitter workers to contribute to Threads, which Twitter claims violates its intellectual property rights.
Musk claims that these employees “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.”
“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,” Spiro wrote in a letter obtained exclusively by Semafor. “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 accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.”
Why is Musk Concerned?
Musk is concerned that Meta’s hiring of Twitter employees could give Threads an unfair advantage. He believes that these employees could use their knowledge of Twitter’s platform and user data to create a better product than Twitter.
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Despite what was said by Elon Musk on Threads, the app had a great launch day
Within seven hours of its introduction, Threads reportedly reached the milestone of 10 million signups, according to Zuckerberg. Four hours after Threads was formally announced by Meta, he claimed that 5 million users had signed up.
After months of leaks and rumors, Threads, the Twitter rival that Meta created, has now gone online. Now, you may access the new platform using the iOS and Android applications, as well as the desktop version of Threads.net. “Let’s do this,” said Facebook’s creator Mark Zuckerberg in a post on Wednesday welcoming new users to the service. Happy New Year from Threads.
According to the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, more than 10 million people registered to use Meta’s new “Threads” program in the first seven hours of its launch on Wednesday. This is a red flag that the Instagram spinoff may pose a significant threat to Twitter, which has recently been plagued by technical issues and controversial reforms.
Featured image credit: Brett Jordan on Unsplash
