A crucial new feature is about to appear on Twitter. According to reports, this feature was part of Elon Musk’s projects since his takeover of the social network last November. Whether everyone will be able to use this feature for free remains to be seen.Ā Elon Musk had a lot of ideas for the social media network when he purchased it late last year. We can mention Twitter Blue as well as contemporary methods of communication like live chat or direct message security. However, as we all know, the dismissal of thousands of Twitter workers left the tycoon with quite a few challenges. Obviously, this delayed a few of his initiatives.
But things are going forward. Elon Musk stated on Sunday, March 5, that the encryption of private messages was in the works and would be put into effect in March.
A long-awaited feature is about to arrive on Twitter
āWe are aiming to roll out the ability to respond to DMs using any reaction emoji as well as encryption later this month,ā Elon Musk tweeted last Tuesday.
Aiming to roll out ability to reply to individual DMs, use any reaction emoji & encryption later this month
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2023
Users of the social network have long desired an extra layer of security. And for good reasonāit is already available on many apps, including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Signal. We can assume that Twitter is lagging behind its rivals. Keep in mind that Direct Messages are not secure against hacking or data pillage if they are not encrypted. Employees of Twitter can also view it, though we assume that it is not currently a top concern for them. The encryption of DMs is still excellent news for users who favour this communication method, especially for possibly sensitive meetings.
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Encryption of DMs accessible to all?
It is unclear if Twitter will encrypt data sent to users or if this function will only be available to Twitter Blue subscribers who pay a monthly fee. We can only hope that Twitter will not make the error of reserving the encryption of DMs only to users of its paid service given the serious risks regarding the security of privacy and personal data. However, we should keep in mind that there is already an antecedent, namely the two-factor authentication via SMS that has only been available to Twitter Blue users since the end of February.
But keep in mind that Twitter has long been working on encrypting direct messages. The social network was hit by an API flaw in 2018 that allowed users to hack their way into other users’ direct messages. Let’s hope Elon Musk keeps his word and enables all to benefit from it without having to pull out his wallet.
About Twitter
Twitter is a social media platform where users can post and interact with short messages called “tweets”. Tweets are limited to 280 characters and can include text, photos, videos, and links. Users can follow other accounts and see their tweets in their feeds. Twitter also allows users to search for and participate in conversations around specific topics using hashtags. It has become a popular platform for breaking news, public discourse, and celebrity communication. Twitter was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Twitter allows users to engage in various activities. This include liking and retweeting other users’ tweets, replying to tweets, and direct messaging other users. Users can also create and participate in Twitter chats, which are live conversations around a specific topic that takes place at a designated time using a designated hashtag.
Twitter chose a number of means to tackle issues of hate speech and abuse after receiving criticism for how it handles these issues. This is one of the reasons Elon Musk bought the company, to better “handle these issues”.
