Twitter is adding calls and encrypted messaging

London CNN

Elon Musk, Twitter's CEO, tweeted late Tuesday that the platform will soon include encrypted messaging and phone calls.

'Release encrypted DMs (direct messages) V1.0 should take place tomorrow. The sophistication of this will increase rapidly. He said that the acid test was whether he could see your DMs if a gun were held to his head.

Voice and video chat will soon be available from your handle, so that you can communicate with anyone in the world.

Musk, who has been in control of Twitter for six months, is looking to find ways to grow the platform. The future of the platform is uncertain due to dwindling revenue from advertising and increasing competition with rivals like Mastodon and BlueSky developed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Addition of encrypted messages and calls could help Twitter compete with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, who owns Facebook Messenger (FB) and WhatsApp. These platforms are used by billions of people to communicate with their family and friends. Twitter reported 238 millions monetizable users per day in July.

Musk's decision to take Twitter private in October has completely changed the way Twitter operates. Many users, celebrities, and media outlets have announced that they will be leaving the platform due to recent policy changes. They claim they make it less reliable and safe.