Musk launches encrypted messaging service

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter is launching an encrypted messaging service. Elon Musk said the service will ensure that its direct message feature will be protected from sender to receiver, meaning they will be the only parties able to read them.

The 51-year-old billionaire tweeted that he wouldn’t be able to see them, “even if there was a gun to my head”. Musk did provide a caveat that the feature was in its early stage and urged users to “try it, but don’t trust it”.

The perk is a paid-for feature as it is only available to Twitter Blue users, the tier of Twitter that costs $8 (about R153) a month and supplies accounts with perks like a verification blue tick and the ability to edit tweets. Encrypted messages can only support links and text and not media like photos and videos.

Musk, who bought Twitter for $44billion, has hinted at his intention to turn the social media giant into a “super-app” with functions similar to the Chinese service WeChat. |