Mark Zuckerberg takes on Elon Musk as Meta plans to launch Twitter-like app Threads

Meta Platforms plans to launch a Twitter-rivalling microblogging app called Threads, days after Twitter boss Elon Musk attracted criticism by anuncing a temporary cap on how many posts users can read on social media site.

Threads is expected to be released on Thursday and will allow users to retain followers from photo-sharing platform Instagram, and keep same username, a listing on Apple's App Store showed.

rollout represents a direct challenge to Twitter, which has faced numerous controversies since Musk bought company for $44 billion in 2022.

Last week, Tesla billionaire anunced a slate of new restrictions on app, limiting number of tweets users could view per day, prompting outcry from many on platform.

While alternative microblogging sites - such as Mastodon and Blue Sky - have seen an uptick in user numbers since Musk's acquisition, neir has been able to challenge Twitter.

But Instagram already has hundreds of millions of registered users and has a history of introducing new features based on success of or social media firms.

In 2016, it added a feature called "stories" to Instagram, or user posts that disappear after a fixed amount of time, in response to rising popularity of Snapchat.

More recently, company's short-form video feature "Reels" has sought to challenge rise of TikTok.

launch of Threads represents a credible threat to Twitter under Musk.

"Threads is going to pose a huge threat to Twitter because it's coming from Meta and Instagram family of apps," said Drew Benvie, CEO of social media consultancy Battenhall.

"Instagram has 2 billion users compared to around 250 million of Twitter, so it's about ten times bigger already. If only one-in-ten Instagram users tries using Threads, it will overtake Twitter in blink of an eye."

After acquiring company late last year, Musk laid off around 80% of staff and reinstated a number of banned accounts, such as those of former U.S. President Donald Trump and conservative satirical news site Babylon Bee.

Hundreds of advertisers, concerned by a perceived rise in harmful content on platform, paused spending with Twitter, and internal documents seen by Reuters showed platform's most active users becoming disengd.

Meta did t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on a similar launch on Google Play Store. Reuters approached Twitter for comment.