Twitter threatens to sue Meta over Threads

Meta, which launched Threads on Wednesday and has logged more than 30 million sign-ups, looks to take on Elon Musk's Twitter by taking advantage of Instagram's billions of users.

Spiro, in his letter, accused Meta of hiring former Twitter employees who "had and continue to have access to Twitter's trade secrets and other highly confidential information," the report said. A former senior Twitter employee told Reuters they were not aware of any former staffers working on Threads, nor any senior personnel who landed at Meta at all.

Meanwhile, Twitter owner Musk said, "Competition is fine, cheating is not," in response to a tweet citing the news.

Meta owns Instagram as well as Facebook.

Will Threads bring about the "downfall of Twitter"? Experts weigh in 

Since Musk's takeover of the social media platform last October, Twitter has received competition from Mastodon and Bluesky among others. Threads' user interface, however, resembles the microblogging platform.

Threads does not support keyword searches or direct messages.

The newest challenge to Twitter follows a series of chaotic decisions that have alienated both users and advertisers, including Musk's latest move to limit the number of tweets users can read per day.

A social media expert suggested on Thursday Threads is a legitimate rival to Twitter and has 'struck an early blow' in its rivalry.

Chief Technology Officer at MBL Digital, Jaco Vermeulen says Threads' ties to Instagram might give it a built-in user base and advertising apparatus.

''All other competitors needed to start from scratch. And it's also taking in a lot of experience that comes from Meta,'' Vermeulen says.

While Threads launched as a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, potentially making it an easy addition to existing habits for Instagram's more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Threads' arrival comes after Zuckerberg and Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

'Twitter has had its day' Londoners say as Meta's new Threads app draws millions of users

Social media users in the UK on Thursday welcomed Meta's new Threads social platform.

Dubbed as the "Twitter-Killer," Threads was the top free app on Apple's App Store in the UK and the US on Thursday as it logged 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, including celebrities Kim Kardashian and Gordon Ramsay.

While Threads launched as a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials and follow the same accounts, potentially making it an easy addition to existing habits for Instagram's more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Threads' arrival comes after Zuckerberg and Musk have traded barbs for months, even threatening to fight each other in a real-life mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas.

Reuters