Twitter’s claim that Meta stole trade secrets to build its new microblogging site may be the first volley in a legal battle between the social media giants.

Twitter alleges that Meta used its trade secrets to develop its new social media platform, Threads, and demanded that it stop using the information.

Twitter said that Meta had hired dozens of former Twitter employees, many of whom “improperly retained” devices and documents from the company, and said Meta “deliberately” assigned them to work on Threads.

It was unclear whether any lawsuit would be filed.

Difficult to prove

Legal experts said that while many companies have accused competitors that hired former employees and have a similar product of stealing trade secrets, the cases are difficult to prove.

To win, a company needs to show its competitor took information that was economically valuable and which the company had taken “reasonable efforts” to keep secret, said Polk Wagner, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

But the question of what constitutes a “reasonable effort” can be tricky, he said.

“The courts are pretty clear that you can’t just wave your hands and say something is a trade secret. On the other hand, you don’t have to lock everything down so much that nobody can use the information,” Wagner said.