Twitter may introduce encrypted direct messages on Wednesday, according to Elon Musk, as the CEO revealed plans to enhance the social media platform’s communication features.
In a tweet late Tuesday, Musk stated that the latest version of the Twitter app includes updates to direct messages (DMs)—the nonpublic messages users send to one another.
Musk explained that users can now reply to any message in a DM thread, not just the most recent one, and can use any emoji to react to a message. Previously, users could only reply to the latest message in a DM thread and react with specific emojis.
Additionally, Musk announced that encrypted DMs “should” be released on Wednesday.
Encryption in messaging means that only the sender and receiver can see the message. In theory, neither Twitter nor Musk would be able to see or intercept direct messages between users.
“The acid test is that I could not see your DMs even if there was a gun to my head,” Musk tweeted.
Facebook parent Meta stated in January that it was expanding testing for default end-to-end encryption for its Messenger service. WhatsApp, another messaging app owned by Meta, has had end-to-end encryption for several years.
Encrypted messaging services have become increasingly popular in recent years as users prioritize privacy.
Musk also mentioned that voice and video calls would be added to Twitter soon, allowing users to “talk to people anywhere in the world” without needing to share phone numbers.
Since Twitter’s inception, the development of the direct messages feature has not received much attention from previous CEOs. However, Musk has frequently expressed his intention to transform Twitter into an “everything app,” encompassing services from messaging to financial transactions.
It should be noted that new Twitter features Musk promises are not always introduced on time. In February, he announced that Twitter would launch a feature to share advertising revenue with creators on the platform, but this has yet to happen.
