Elon Musk’s jabs at rival Mark Zuckerberg were getting ever more juvenile Monday as Meta’s new Threads platform has reached over 100 million sign-ups. The platform, which currently allows users to sign up through their Instagram after downloading the app, officially launched last week.
On Sunday, the Twitter owner called Zuckerberg a “cuck” and said that the two billionaires should have “a literal dick measuring contest” along with a ruler emoji.
Musk’s remarks came in response to a Twitter user which said that he protects free speech and Zuckerberg protects “brand speech.” The tweet included a screenshot of Zuckerberg using the laughing emoji in response to a Threads post by Wendys that said “hey @Zuck, you should really go to space just to really make him mad lol.”
“You will get more laughs from this app than everything else combined,” Musk said in a separate tweet on Monday. “But I have to warn you … don’t be shocked … there’s some negative stuff too.”
Musk’s latest shot at Zuckerberg’s new Twitter competitor comes after he said on Saturday that Threads is “just Instagram minus pics, which makes no sense, given that thirst pics are the main reason people use that app.”
“How many times have you read comments on Insta pics & wished there were more? Personally, never,” Musk said. “Also, Zuck is claiming “sign ups” while really just converting Instagram users. Cheater.”
On Thursday, Twitter sent Zuckerberg a cease and desist letter, threatening to sue Meta over “systematic, willful and unlawful misappropriation” of its trade secrets and IP, with Musk tweeting: “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
On Friday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that Meta is not aiming to overtake Twitter with Threads, but rather to “create a public square for communities on Instagram that never really embraced Twitter and for communities on Twitter (and other platforms) that are interested in a less angry place for conversations, but not all of Twitter.”
“Politics and hard news are inevitably going to show up on Threads – they have on Instagram as well to some extent,” Mosseri added. “But we’re not doing to do anything to encourage those verticals.”
In addition to the war of words, Musk and Zuckerberg have agreed to a mixed martial arts cage match, though it’s unclear if the tech moguls are serious.
