Twitter v Meta: The 'Thread' of Litigation

Background

On the 1^st of July, Twitter owner Elon Musk introduced the concept of 'rate limits', restricting the number of tweets that users could see across a 24-hour period. Musk went on to clarify the reasoning behind the idea was due to "data scraping and system manipulation", in which bots and external services grab huge amounts of Twitter data for their own purposes. The rate limits differed depending on the type of accounts the user has, as broken down below:

• Verified accounts limited to 6,000 posts per day;
• Unverified accounts limited to 600 posts per day; and
• New unverified accounts limited to 300 posts per day.

The cost for a verified account, also known as a Twitter Blue subscription, currently stands at £114.99 per annum or £11.00 per month. Unverified accounts are free to use.

A wave of complaints followed the announcement, including screenshots and hashtags highlighting the outage from swarms of the global population, as reported by sites such as Downdetector.

Predictably, this led to a large contingent of twitter users seeking a new alternative, which seems to have coincided with Meta's launch of the viral app known as Threads.

Threads Launch

On Wednesday 5 July, Zuckerberg announced the launch of Threads which saw an influx of users signing up to. In just under 48 hours following the launch, the new platform had already amassed 70 million sign-ups. At the time of writing, Threads now has over 100 million users in less than a week, shattering records for app launches and user sign-ups. Threads has now become the most rapidly downloaded app of all time, surpassing the record set by ChatGPT. It is also worth noting that Threads is not currently available in the EU, making the numbers even more impressive.

Twitter's Reply

Lawyers for Twitter wrote to Meta accusing them of engaging in "systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property." The letter went on to allege that Meta had hired a number of former Twitter employees with the intention of creating a "copycat" platform.

Twitter's lawyers also stated:

"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."

Further going on to conclude:

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

Meta swiftly dismissed the accusations, stating that "no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee".

Preliminary Points of Contention

It seems that any claims of IP infringement will go head-to-head with the principles underpinning competition law; something Musk has already touched upon in a recent tweet stating:

"Competition is fine, cheating is not."

This is not the first time that Twitter has been challenged since Musk's acquisition of the platform in 2022. Other platforms such as Mastodon, Hive Social and Blue Sky have all attempted to rival the platform as Musk's operation and changes grow ever more unpopular. However, Threads seems to be a threat of a much larger nature, owing to both its data and scale.

Should Twitter officially take legal action, the claims of IP infringement may hinge around the functionality and user interface, which initially seem to mirror those on Twitter, including buttons to like, repost, reply to or quote a thread. The number of likes and replies on each post is displayed below its content. Accounts can also be public or private. These functions coupled with accusations of Meta utilising former Twitter employees to develop Threads, may serve as the foundation for the initial claims. A summary table comparing user functionality highlights the similarities and differences thus far:

Initial thoughts on legal action

Richard Lachman, Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's RTA School of Media, envisages that Twitter's allegations concerning Meta "poaching" former Twitter employees to develop Threads might be somewhat arduous to prove. The difficulty lies in the fact that Twitter fired a large number of employees following Musk's takeover last year, which may suggest that employees were not "poached" directly. In addition, Meta have explicitly stated that no former employees worked on the development of Threads.

Lachman also goes on to clarify that the basic functionality utilised by Threads is not unique to Twitter in itself. The only possible way to assert any claims of infringement would be to look at the subtle details behind the algorithms and recommendations protected under US IP Law.

Concluding thoughts

The saga now dubbed the 'Battle of the Billionaires' will likely ensue for months and possibly years to come. The popularity of Threads is something to keep a close eye on, whilst Musk's activity on Twitter itself will serve as an illuminating platform as to where his stance lies, as well as the basis for any statements made thus far. Both billionaires remain active across social media and are not afraid to comment publicly and frequently. Should the allegations crystallise in courts, the saga threatens to be one of the most high-profile IP disputes of the modern era.