Topline
Twitter owner Elon Musk continued to criticize Meta’s new rival platform Threads late Thursday, accusing the company of using its algorithms to manipulate information and highlighting its extensive data collection practices, on the backdrop of a potential legal fight between the two social media giants following Threads’ successful launch.
Musk has been extremely critical of Threads since its launch on Wednesday.
Key Facts
In a series of tweets—mostly replies to tweets from his followers—Musk attempted to draw attention to the history of Meta and its CEO’s missteps with Facebook and its algorithmic approach to building a user’s timeline.
Labeling Threads’ timeline as a “closed source, algorithm-only system,” Musk implied that such an approach leads to undetectable “manipulation of what information people see.”
Musk’s comment was in response to a tweet by Jack Dorsey saying he was not surprised by Threads’ lack of a reverse chronological timeline only featuring accounts that a user follows, adding “they’ve never given people the choice to remove the algorithm.”
Reacting to a tweet about Meta’s existing dominance in the social media space with Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the Twitter executive chairman wrote: “Any social media monopoly is despair.”
With his customary one or two-character replies, Musk also brought attention to tweets highlighting comments made by a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg shortly after he launched Facebook in 2004 and the extensive user data that the Threads app requests access to.
Following reports that Twitter was threatening legal action against Threads for allegedly copying its secrets earlier on Thursday, Musk accused Meta of “cheating” and referred to it as a metaphorical “tapeworm.”
Crucial Quote
As Threads’ rapidly growing user count continued to garner attention on Thursday, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted: “On Twitter, everyone’s voice matters. Whether you’re here to watch history unfold, discover REAL-TIME information all over the world, share your opinions, or learn about others — on Twitter YOU can be real…We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated.”
Chief Critic
As it faces criticism and attack from Musk, Meta hasn’t shied away from talking shots at Twitter. In an interview with the Verge, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said: “I do think there’s a lot more noise around Twitter than there was. Just the volatility and the unpredictability of what seemed to be going on there seemed like it might present an opportunity.”
Key Background
Musk’s criticism of Threads is a continuation of a brewing feud between him and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. When the existence of Threads was first reported by media outlets, the Twitter owner reacted by tweeting “zuck my tongue.” A few weeks later, he doubled down, saying “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.” On Thursday, hours after Zuckerberg announced Threads hitting the 30 million users milestone, reports emerged that an attorney representing Twitter’s parent X Corp. had written to Meta threatening it with a lawsuit. The letter accused Meta of misusing Twitter’s “trade secrets and other intellectual property.” The letter accused Meta of hiring former Twitter employees with the intent to gain insider information to build a rival app. Meta was quick to dismiss this allegation with the company’s communications director, Andy Stone posting: “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”
Further Reading
Twitter Threatens Lawsuit Against Meta Over ‘Copycat’ Threads App (Forbes)
No Hashtags, No Chronological Timeline And Mobile Only: How Meta’s ‘Threads’ Differs From Twitter (Forbes)
