Elon Musk recently stated that Twitter would launch an encrypted messaging service akin to the popular WhatsApp messaging service.
This comes a few hours after Musk questioned WhatsApp's privacy problems, retweeting a screenshot tweeted by Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri, claiming the service had accessed Dabiri's microphone numerous times while the app was not in use.
Musk responded by tweeting, "WhatsApp cannot be trusted."
The Meta-owned app responded to Dabiri's original tweet, saying that an Android bug caused the problem and that the program could "only access the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video - and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption, so WhatsApp cannot hear them."
Twitter's Own Encrypted Messaging Service
Musk's recent tweet regarding Twitter's encrypted messaging service is part of the company's attempts to improve in-app conversations.
According to Reuters, Musk announced plans for "Twitter 2.0 The Everything App" last year, which would include features such as encrypted direct messages (DMs), long-form tweets, and payments.
This feature will allow only users in a specific chat to view their messages, preventing access even for the service's corporation.
The billionaire announced that Twitter's encrypted direct messages (DMs) would be accessible to users with the V1.0 upgrade as early as May 11. Users can reply to any message in a DM thread and react to messages with emojis, similar to Apple's iMessage functionality.
Musk added, "Coming soon will be voice and video chat from your handle to anyone on this platform, so you can talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number."
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It is unclear, though, whether encryption applies to both one-on-one and group discussions. Musk has not stated if Twitter users will be required to opt-in to encrypted messaging or if it will be automatic.
Twitter Challenging Meta's End-to-end Encryption Services
This announcement comes when Facebook's Meta already provides end-to-end encryption with DMs, a feature it launched in 2016 before the chat function was rebranded Messenger and Facebook's parent business was renamed Meta.
WhatsApp, which Facebook purchased in 2014 for approximately $22 billion, had previously provided encryption in 2012.
However, the feature has seemingly failed recently, according to multiple Twitter and Reddit users who shared evidence that their WhatsApp microphones had been activated in the background of the app without their knowledge, the New York Post reports.
When not using WhatsApp, the same NYPost reports tell us that Android users can turn off the microphone by tapping the green dot in the top right corner of the smartphone.
The green dot appears when WhatsApp or another app uses the device's microphone. Tapping the green icon will open a pop-up with more information, where users can choose an app and then grant it microphone and camera access.
On an iPhone, go to the Settings app, choose WhatsApp from the list of alerts, and turn off the microphone permissions. An orange dot will display in the top right corner of an iPhone user's screen if WhatsApp is accessing their microphone.
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