Meta working on potential Twitter rival

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook owner Meta is working on a new "text sharing" social media platform, it said Friday, in a project seen as a potential rival to embattled Twitter.

Since billionaire Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter in October, the influential website has suffered outages, layoffs and seen advertisers flee the platform over the lack of content moderation.

But so far no major alternative to Twitter has emerged, leaving global leaders, politicians, celebrities and companies little choice than to continue to communicate via the platform.

Following reports on news websites Platformer and India-based Moneycontrol, Meta confirmed on Friday that it was beginning to work on the new platform.

"We're exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates," Meta said in a short emailed statement.

"We believe there's an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests," the statement added.

The media reports said that Meta's new app would use technology that allowed it to be interoperable with niche network Mastodon and other platforms.

This would be a clear break from usual practice by tech giants, where platforms such as Instagram or YouTube are kept behind technological walls and operate using company servers under strict rules.

Mastodon runs from decentralized computing servers, with no central management or authority calling the shots.

In December, Musk briefly banned Twitter accounts that provided links to other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon. -- Agence France-Presse