The long-awaited overhaul of Twitter’s “Direct Messaging” feature is finally on its way. Micro-blogging platform CEO Elon Musk on Sunday confirmed that the company is working towards making DMs encrypted. Twitter users will also be able to reply to individual messages as well as use any reaction emoji.
“Aiming to roll out ability to reply to individual DMs, use any reaction emoji & encryption later this month,” Musk tweeted. The features are expected to roll out this month.
Experts have been speculating that encrypted DMs will become part of Twitter 2.0, a version that Musk is building after he took over the company in October last year. Earlier, even Musk said that he wants Twitter DM to become somewhat like Signal.
End-to-end encryption will add an additional layer of security to DMs. No one except the recipients of your messages, including Twitter, will be able to read your chats. Apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and iMessage are already encrypted. It is yet not clear whether encrypted messages will be enabled by default or will be an opt-in feature.
Following Musk’s takeover, the Blue Bird has managed to garner regular headlines about its weakening content moderation policies, a surge in fake accounts, and the re-activation of accounts of some controversial celebrities.
The company is also undergoing several legal proceedings relating to non-payment of rent for its offices and other services acquired by the company. It is no surprise that the social media company has been since reeling financially as it introduced several cost-cutting measures including laying off several of its employees.
The company also launched Twitter Blue last year with the view of growing revenue. Talking about India, the monthly Twitter Blue subscription cost users Rs 650 for the web and Rs 900 each for Android and iOS devices. Elsewhere, Musk said in January that the end of this year would be a good time to find a new head for the microblogging platform.
