Twitter threatens to use Meta for trade secret theft in relation to Threads
20 July 2023
Twitter recently threatened to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms for allegedly stealing trade secrets to create its new microblogging platform in a letter sent by Twitter’s lawyer, Alex Spiro. The letter was addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and accuses the latter of leveraging Twitter’s trade secrets when creating Threads, Meta’s most recent social networking site, instructing Meta to stop utilizing the secret information in the letter.
In his letter, Spiro claimed that Meta had hired multiple former Twitter workers who had reportedly retained unapproved devices and records from their employment there. He further claimed that Meta purposefully assigned these people to work on Threads, claiming Meta of misappropriating Twitter’s trade secrets and intellectual property as asked them to stop.
Govind Chaturvedi, Social Media & IP Expert
“Well, as we know, Twitter is under new management and there have been mass layoffs. Since then, a number of Twitter clones have emerged in the market, such as Spil, BlueSky, Mastadon, Huve,” said Govind Chaturvedi, a social media and IP expert. “These clones have the same format of microblogging and concentrate on short form text communication for its users.”
Meta has been developing Threads since January 2012 under the codename Project 92. However, the similar format of the platforms and ex-employees leaving and joining these new companies like Meta has led to accusations.
“Interestingly, it also makes a mention of the crawling or scraping of Twitter followers, which is unique in this legal notice and could allude to the fact that Twitter has been losing followers and believes that the data of these users is being used by these companies,” he said. “So, if it is a case of infringement of IP and trade secrets, it is not known as the legal notice makes no mention of any specifics. We are also aware that many social media patents are in the Twitter name, and these could be used by Twitter to file a case against Meta. Meta has released a statement saying that they have not hired any former employees, and this was their project and no trade secrets are being used.”
He added that this is a revolution in the social media industry that people have not realized.
“I think what many people are missing is that the aim of Meta with Threads is to make one unified platform where you can see your updates from WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram on one app,” he said. “Meta intends to use a technology called Activity Pub, which was originally conceived in the 2000s. Activity hub would create one app for all your social media platforms. If I upload a photo to Facebook, you can see it on Twitter, Instagram or WhatsApp and comment on it or like it. This is a boon for ‘Influencers’ who can now connect with their audience through one unified app and not have to worry about re-building followers on new platforms as you can migrate your followers from one Meta account to another.”
He added: “Hence, Threads will change the social media industry if the same can be executed properly. The growth of Threads has been immense which is also due to the already established 2 billion users of Meta from other platforms. Of course, the design of Threads is also user-friendly, and it generates engagement.”
