Here comes end-to-end encryption on Twitter

Several new features are coming to Twitter over the next few months, including the most recent: the addition of end-to-end encryption for private messages between users. This solution is well-known and already used by several messaging applications, such as WhatsApp. 

Now, the encrypted communication system whereby only the people who are communicating can read the messages also debuts on Twitter. The social network, amidst excitement and controversy, has been and continues to be totally disrupted since it was purchased by Tesla genius Elon Musk. 

The news of the implementation of E2EE encryption is confirmed on Twitter itself by Bitcoin Magazine’s official account, which reads: 

“Twitter is deploying end-to-end encryption on DMs.”

Why are rumors talking about E2EE on Twitter DMs? 

At the end of last October, Elon Musk, entrepreneur and owner of the Tesla company as well as a big supporter of the crypto world, bought Twitter for the massive sum of $44 billion. 

Since Musk has been Twitter’s new parent, the changes that have come to the famous platform have been many: mass layoffs, account verification news, two-factor authentication still improving, and so on. 

Now, the latest novelty: end-to-end encryption for direct messages is in the works. 

According to some sources, it appears that it was researcher and reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong who noticed the engineers’ activity on this new feature. 

Wong, on 9 November, published a post asking Elon Musk to re-introduce encryption to protect private messages sent on the platform, thus achieving a similar level of security as Signal, WhatsApp and Messenger. 

Indeed, the encrypted communication system was already in the works in 2018. However, after a short time, it was shelved in order to work on other innovations that experts believe should be implemented more urgently. 

With Tesla‘s CEO, everything changes. Indeed, Musk seems to have seen the commentary of the renowned reverse engineer, so much so that after a week Wong herself uncovered strings of code highlighting the implementation of end-to-end encrypted messages. However, at the moment, the indications are still elementary, and it will take time to get such a novelty in a definitive way. 

Further confirming these rumors was Elon Musk himself, who responded to Wong’s post with a simple wink. Thus, as they say: a word to the wise. 

All the changes on the social networks since Musk took over: turning point for the crypto world 

As already anticipated, the changes that have come and are coming to Twitter are many since Elon Musk is its new owner. From delisting, to blockchain, to a new policy on content moderation: let’s look at some of them. 

One of the first steps Musk took in the early days of his Twitter acquisition was the delisting. That is, as of 8 November, Twitter was no longer on the stock exchange, where it had landed in 2013. 

This was one of Musk’s early ideas, with non-listed companies enjoying the benefits. Indeed, these are not required to make their financial data public, are subject to less regulatory scrutiny, and can be kept under control more effectively by the owner.

However, one of the most exciting news for all supporters of the crypto and blockchain world is precisely the inclusion of these systems in the platform. In fact, in the string of investors backing Musk in his acquisition of Twitter is also Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges. 

It appears that Binance has put $500 million on the table and will then be part of a team that will write the new rules and intervene on the chatbot and spam node, central to Elon Musk’s project, by leveraging the blockchain, bringing the experience gained in the cryptocurrency sector.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, himself made statements on the matter a few weeks ago, saying: 

“We are thrilled to be able to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter. We aim to play a role in bringing together social media and Web3 in order to broaden the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.”

Also among Musk’s plans is to provide subscription services, getting revenue directly from users instead of relying solely on advertisers. Thus, giving users the ability to use Twitter without seeing ads if they pay a fee.

Finally, Musk’s intentions also include using the Twitter purchase as an accelerator to create X, the everything app. 

These are specifically products that are very popular in China and other parts of Asia. The first one is China’s WeChat, run by Tencent, the largest super app in the world: over a billion users.

The X app is a kind of one-stop shop for all needs: chat, payments, social networking, games, delivery, cab booking and much more. Since there is no WeChat equivalent outside of China, Musk had already made his intentions on the matter clear. 

Claiming that there was a real opportunity to create it and adding that if the goal of the X app could be achieved, or even approached, with Twitter, it would be an immense success and a breakthrough for everyone’s daily life.