Twitter 2.0, as it’s being called, could soon get encrypted direct messages and the ability to perform encrypted video and voice calling between accounts. As per a report, Elon Musk has said that this will “enable users to be able to communicate without being concerned about their privacy.”
In a meeting with employees, a recording of which is available with The Verge, Musk laid out his desire to improve how Twitter’s DMs work. Encryption now seems to be the top priority at Twitter 2.0, with the creator of Signal “potentially willing to help out” in this effort.
The micro-blogging platform has indeed faced a few security breaches in the past. In 2018, it revealed that DMs between businesses and their customers were accessible by outsiders for over a year.
Moreover, in 2022, none other than the US government charged a former employee with inappropriately accessing user data on behalf of Saudi Arabia. In the past, Twitter has unrolled multiple plans to encrypt DMs but they somehow never manifested into something concrete.
Musk has also praised Signal creator, Moxie Marlinspike, who had worked at Twitter and wanted to encrypt DMs years ago. He “was denied that and then went and created Signal,” said the new Twitter CEO.
The platform’s transformation following the $44 billion deal has been a bumpy one. First, top executives were immediately fired and then came the layoffs of thousands of other employees. A large number of people were also asked to leave if they could not work for extended hours.
And then there was the entire blue-tick verification saga that eventually led to the rolling back of the new $8 per month subscription after several imposters hilariously started posting on Twitter.