--- title: "Furious Elon Musk Is Threatening to Sue Meta for Ripping Off Twitter" description: "Twitter is threatening to sue Meta, arguing that it ripped off its platform with its \"copycat\" Twitter-killer app Threads." date: "2023-07-06" modified: "2023-07-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-threatening-sue-meta-ripping-off-twitter" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Meta" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Furious Elon Musk Is Threatening to Sue Meta for Ripping Off Twitter ![]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Threadened Twitter is threatening to sue Meta, arguing that it ripped off its platform with its "copycat" Twitter-killer app Threads. The Elon Musk-led company went as far as to accuse Meta of stealing former employees, [*Semafor* reports](), something that Meta vehemently denies. On Wednesday, Meta launched its Threads platform, a text-focused social media app that is seemingly built on top of Instagram, to much fanfare. According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the platform amassed [over 30 million users]() in less than 24 hours. Unsurprisingly, the thunderous appearance of the brand-new social media app to beat royally pissed off Musk, who lashed out after Zuckerberg [took to Twitter to tease him](). "It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram," a butt-hurt Musk [wrote](), replying to a meme Zuckerberg posted. ## Not a Thing And now, Musk is threatening Meta with legal action following a [long string of missteps]() that caused Twitter to [plummet in value]() and become a [cesspool of abuse](). Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Twitter, shot a letter at Zuckerberg, accusing the platform of engaging in "systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property," as quoted by *Semafor*. Spiro also accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who had insider access and knew of trade secrets. Meanwhile, a Meta source defended the company, telling *Semafor* that Spiro had no idea what he's talking about. "No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing." Clearly, there's a lot of momentum behind Meta's new Twitter-killer app given the sheer number of users who have already signed up for the service. But whether Meta used intellectual property from Twitter to make it a success is anything but certain. More than anything, it sounds like Musk is infuriated by Zuckerberg's advances and is lashing out. **More on the situation:** *[Mark Zuckerberg Tweets for First Time in 11 Years to Mock Elon Musk]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()