Twitter’s Musk-backed startup Operation Bluebird launches new social network 'Twitter.now'
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Operation Bluebird has repeatedly stated that this project is legal because Musk quickly changed the name and logo of Twitter to X upon purchasing it back in 2022. They say that the Twitter identity and IP were abandoned, thus allowing something like the new Twitter to exist. Musk sued the group via a federal judge in Delaware, a state that's known for prioritizing big business.
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TechCrunchAs ArsTechnica reported, X sued the company last year and asked a Delaware judge to issue an injunction to stop Operation Bluebird from launching a social media platform called Twitter. But Operation Bluebird argued, per a petition last year, that X had let go of trademarks like “Twitter” and “Tweet.”
Ars TechnicaBut Musk’s X Corporation quickly sued Operation Bluebird late last year and asked a federal judge in Delaware to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent a new version of Twitter from launching.
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For Coates, who serves as Twitter’s new general counsel and previously worked in the same role during the pre-Musk era, the judge’s words were enough to serve as a green light.
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EngadgetCoates is operating as the legal counsel for the new entity, the same role he had at Twitter. He recently stated that the judge's preliminary ruling gave them the go-ahead. "It's our opinion that X has abandoned its rights on the Twitter and tweet trademarks," he said.
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You read that right. There is a new social network called “Twitter.now” on the block, and it’s being operated by a startup called Operation Bluebird, whose founding team includes former Twitter trademark counsel Stephen Coates.
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Ars TechnicaOperation Bluebird, the Virginia-based startup trying to revive the allegedly abandoned “Twitter” name and logo, announced Monday that it has launched its new social media network: Twitter.now.
3 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Engadget The launch happened as a judge continues to weigh a preliminary injunction requested by Elon Musk and X as part of an ongoing trademark lawsuit. "We have waited months and months to launch, and we are not going to wait anymore," Coates told Ars Technica.
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02 TechCrunch But all social networks struggle with moderation. As user numbers ramp up, platforms often find themselves being forced to choose sides, as the original Twitter had to do many times before it was acquired by Elon Musk. Bluesky has lately been criticized for its moderation, too.
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03 Ars Technica However, in an April 2026 hearing, US District Court Judge Colm Connolly gave a tentative ruling from the bench that X seemed to have given up intellectual property claims over the word “tweet” and the Twitter bird logo—and possibly even on the word “Twitter” as well. The judge has yet to issue a written order.
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Sources (3)
- arstechnica
- engadget
- techcrunch