Mark Zuckerberg promises to keep Threads friendly, sparks censorship debate on Twitter

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he feels Twitter “never succeeded” as much as it should have because it wasn’t friendly to its users, stressing that he plans to do things differently with the newly launched Threads app.

However, Zuckerberg's comment — a possible reference to the infamous Twitter trolls — did not go down well with a section of users of the micro-blogging site, with some even suggesting that the Meta boss could resort to censorship to keep Threads friendly.

Meta's newly debuted Threads app is a text-based rival to Elon Musk’s Twitter — and was made available for Android and iOS users in 100 countries, including the UAE, on July 6.

Zuckerberg made his comment during a Threads exchange with American businessman and investor Mark Cuban. “Hey Mark Zuckerberg, you sure you have to open this up to everyone? It’s pretty nice right now. Amazing people on here,” Cuban wrote.

To this, the Facebook founder replied, “The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands. I think it’s possible and will ultimately be the key to its success. That’s one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently."

This wasn’t the only time Zuckerberg used the new platform to take a dig at Twitter. When MMA fighter Mike Davis asked the Meta CEO if the newly launched app could “become bigger than Twitter”, Zuckerberg took a dig at the micro-blogging site and said that the platform “hasn’t nailed it”.

“It will take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn't nailed it. Hopefully we will,” replied Zuckerberg.

Meta’s Threads, according to Zuckerberg, gained 10 million sign-ups within the first seven hours of its launch. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, too, joined the platform and shared a GIF in his first post. The GIF showed him jumping over a chair during an interview in 1994.

“I’m excited to jump into Threads app,” wrote Gates.

Gates’ post caught the attention of Zuckerberg, who wrote, “Pretty good jump tbh”.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg's comments on keeping Threads friendly triggered a debate on Twitter.

“So it’s going to be censored and full of people reporting things that hurt their feelings. Cool. Just like Facebook,” a person said.

• Elon Musk threatens lawsuit as Twitter rival Threads takes off