Musk Threatens to Sue Zuckerberg Over Rival App 'Threads'

[Ladybbird]

Threads: Instagram Owner to Launch Twitter Rival on Thursday

"Thank goodness they're so sanely run", Mr Musk responded to a tweet about Threads, in an apparent fresh swipe at MrZuckerberg.

BBC NEWS 4 JULY 2023







Facebook owner Meta is launching its new app to rival Twitter and says it will go live on Thursday.

The app, which is called Threads and is available for pre-order on the Apple App Store, will be linked to Instagram.

Screengrabs show a dashboard that looks similar to Twitter. Meta describes Threads as a "text based conversation app".


The move is the latest in a rivalry between Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk.

Last month, the pair agreed to a physical fight, though it is unclear how serious the two men were about actually holding a bout.

"Thank goodness they're so sanely run", Mr Musk responded to a tweet about Threads, in an apparent fresh swipe at Mr Zuckerberg.

Meanwhile, Twitter has said that the popular user dashboard, TweetDeck will go behind a paywall in 30 days time.

The move is the latest push by Mr Musk as he tries to get users to sign up to Twitter's subscription service, Twitter Blue.

On Saturday, the multi-billionaire restricted the number of tweets users could see, citing extreme "data scraping".

It appears from Meta's Threads app that it will be a free service - and there will be no restrictions on how many posts a user can see.

"Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow" the description on the App Store says.

Pictures show screengrabs from the app, that look almost identical to Twitter.


It being a Meta app, Threads will also hoover up data on your phone, including location data, purchases and browsing history.

Several apps that bear a striking resemblance to Twitter have sprung up in recent years - such as Donald Trump's Truth Social and Mastodon.

Another similar app, Bluesky claimed to have seen "record" traffic after Mr Musk's move to restrict usage at the weekend.

However, Threads could be the biggest threat faced by Twitter to date.

Zuckerberg has a history of borrowing other company's ideas - and making them work.

Meta's Reels is widely seen as a TikTok copy, while Stories looks similar to Snapchat.


Meta has the resources to compete with Twitter. Threads will be part of the Instagram platform, so it will also be connected to hundreds of millions of accounts. It's not starting from zero, as other would-be rivals have had to do.

Although Musk has been praised in some quarters for his commitment to free speech, he has also alienated some users.

Zuckerberg will hope he can pull enough disenchanted users away from Twitter to create a genuine alternative.

[Ladybbird]

Twitter Threatens to Sue Meta Over Rival App

Twitter is considering legal action against Meta over its fast-growing rival app Threads.

BBC NEWS 7 JUL 2023







Threads, which was launched to millions on Wednesday, is similar to Twitter and has been pitched by Meta bosses as a "friendly" alternative.

Twitter's Elon Musk said "competition is fine, cheating is not" - but Meta denied claims in a legal letter that ex-Twitter staff helped create Threads.


More than 30 million people have signed up for the new app, according to Meta.



The look and feel of Threads are similar to those of Twitter, BBC News technology reporter James Clayton noted. He said the news feed and the reposting were incredibly familiar.

In a move first reported by news outlet Semafor, Twitter attorney Alex Spiro sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday accusing Meta of "systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property" to create Threads.

Specifically, Mr Spiro alleged that Meta had hired dozens of former Twitter employees who "had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information" that ultimately helped Meta develop what he termed the "copycat" Threads app.

"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," the letter says.

"Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice."

BBC News, which has seen a copy of the letter, has contacted both Meta and Twitter for comment.

Mr Musk said that "competition is fine, cheating is not" in response to a post on Twitter that referred to the legal letter.

On Threads, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted that "no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee - that's just not a thing".

--- Almost every influencer will be hopping on Threads
--- Threads could cause real problems for Twitter


Both Mr Musk and Mr Zuckerberg have acknowledged the rivalry over Threads, which is linked to Instagram but works as a standalone app.

As it launched in 100 countries, Mr Zuckerberg broke more than 11 years of silence on Twitter to post a highly popular meme of two nearly identical Spider-Man figures pointing at each other, indicating a stand-off.

Shortly after, and as the word "Threads" trended globally on his platform, Mr Musk said: "It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram."

Table showing how Threads and Twitter compare, with Threads allowing posts of 500 characters compared with Twitter's 280, and 5 minute videos compared with 2min 20 secs.

Both allow links, photos, and deleting posts but Twitter allows direct messaging, shows trending stories, and uses hashtags which Threads doesn't. Threads has verification but it is one of the services that you have to pay to access on Twitter, along with longer posts and videos and an editing function.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a tweet on Thursday that while the platform, which has previously reported about 260 million monthly users, is "often imitated" it "can never be duplicated".

Both Meta and Twitter have undertaken significant layoffs this year, with Meta announcing in April that it would cut staff levels by approximately 10,000.

Twitter lost a large proportion of its 7,500 employees, as high as 80%, in waves of redundancies following Mr Musk's takeover last October.