Ex-Twitter counsel launches new 'Twitter' platform while trademark ruling still pending
A group led by former Twitter legal counsel Stephen Coates has launched a new social network called Twitter at Twitter.now, even as a Delaware judge has yet to rule on a preliminary injunction sought by Elon Musk and X in a trademark dispute.
A startup called Operation Bluebird has launched a new social media platform running at the URL Twitter.now, styled after the original Twitter with a blue color scheme and a bird logo — though the bird has slightly different plumage than before. The project is led by Stephen Coates, who previously served as legal counsel for the original Twitter and now holds a similar role at the new venture.
The launch comes while a federal judge in Delaware continues to weigh a preliminary injunction requested by Elon Musk and X as part of an ongoing trademark lawsuit. Operation Bluebird argues the project is legal because Musk quickly renamed Twitter to X and changed its branding after acquiring the company in 2022, which the group says amounts to abandoning the Twitter identity and related intellectual property.
District Court Judge Colm Connolly noted in an April preliminary ruling that he had not found credible evidence that X had used the term "tweet" or the bird logo, a statement Coates cited as encouragement to move forward. Coates has said it's his opinion that X abandoned its rights to the Twitter and tweet trademarks.
The new platform explicitly distances itself from X, stating in its branding that it is not affiliated with X Corp — a point Coates reiterated in a LinkedIn post. The project's mission statement criticizes how algorithms and bots have eroded trust on modern social media, and introduces an AI tool called Vera, short for "veracity engine for real-time analysis," designed to automatically fact-check posts. However, the tool is still in early stages, and some users have reported it mistakenly flagging harmless posts.
Access to the new Twitter currently requires a one-time $20 payment to sign up as a "founder," which the company says helps keep bots off the platform. It has said the service may open to more users later, though it's unclear whether a free tier is planned.
