Amongst multiple Twitter changes, Elon Musk is aiming to make direct messages better and more secure as Twitter is set to launch end-to-end encrypted DM feature this month.
Over the weekend, Musk said that the end-to-end encrypted DM feature will roll out this month. Along with that, users will also get the ability to reply to individual messages and use any reaction emoji.
“Aiming to roll out ability to reply to individual DMs, use any reaction emoji & encryption later this month,” Musk wrote. Currently, users can only choose among seven emojis as reactions.
Aiming to roll out ability to reply to individual DMs, use any reaction emoji & encryption later this month
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2023
Your chats are protected by end-to-end encryption, making it impossible for anyone —including Twitter—to view them except the recipients of your messages. This form of encryption is already used by a number of other applications and messaging protocols, including iMessage, Signal, and WhatsApp. Now, Twitter workers can possibly view the content of direct messages on the network. Whether the encryption will be available for both individual and group chats is unknown at this time. It’s also unclear whether end-to-end encryption would be a feature that users must choose to use or whether it will be set by default.
Encrypted DMs are not exactly a new project. Twitter started working on them back in 2018 but abandoned its efforts later. Last year, app researcher Jane Manchun Wong discovered new code suggesting that the social network has resumed its work on the feature under the new management.
