Twitter has joined other social media platforms in launching an encrypted messaging service, ensuring that direct messages are end-to-end encrypted.

This means that only the sender and recipient can access private messages, preventing anyone else, including Twitter CEO Elon Musk, from reading them.

Musk emphasized that even under duress, he would not be able to see users’ messages. However, he cautioned users that this is an early version and urged them to “try it, but don’t trust it yet.”

Currently, the encrypted messaging feature is available only to Twitter Blue subscribers or verified Twitter accounts and does not support media sharing.

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Twitter acknowledged that while the messages themselves are encrypted, metadata and linked content are not.

Therefore, if an encrypted conversation is compromised, neither the sender nor the receiver would be aware, whether due to a malicious insider or a legal requirement imposed on Twitter.

When Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he expressed plans to transform it into a “super-app” with diverse functionalities, similar to China’s WeChat. Since then, he has implemented various changes, including introducing a subscription service and revamping the blue tick verification system.

Twitter users have long called for enhanced security in private messaging, but this move by Musk may create complications in the UK, where the Online Safety Bill aims to grant law enforcement access to such messages for safeguarding children.

Messaging platforms WhatsApp and Signal have criticized this aspect of the bill, fearing it would undermine end-to-end encryption, which is regarded as crucial by privacy advocates.

In April, both platforms joined other messaging services in signing a letter urging a reconsideration of the bill, warning that it could facilitate extensive and indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has introduced encryption to its Messenger platform with certain exceptions, such as Marketplace chats.

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Musk anticipates rapid advancements in encrypted messaging on Twitter, while cybersecurity expert Jake Moore highlights that Twitter is responding to the demand for privacy-conscious users.

He cautions that without end-to-end encryption, Twitter and its staff retain the ability to read users’ messages, posing a significant security risk despite the benefits it offers for micro-targeting by advertisers.