Twitter CEO Elon Musk revealed on Tuesday details about the new features the platform seeks to add soon, including encrypted calls and messages, and announced the removal of inactive accounts, according to a Reuters report.
Last year, Musk announced plans for the Twitter 2.0 The Everything App, which he said would include features such as encrypted direct messaging (DMs), long tweets and payment services.
Musk said in a tweet yesterday: "Soon voice and video chat from your account to anyone on this platform will be possible, so you will be able to talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number."
Twitter's connectivity feature will put the microblogging platform on par with Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram apps that offer the same benefits.
Musk said a version of the encrypted direct messaging feature would be available on Twitter from Wednesday, but did not say whether the calls would be encrypted.
With latest version of app, you can DM reply to any message in the thread (not just most recent) and use any emoji reaction.
Release of encrypted DMs V1.0 should happen tomorrow. This will grow in sophistication rapidly. The acid test is that I could not see your DMs even if...
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
Inactive accounts issue
Twitter said this week it would begin a process of deleting or archiving accounts that have been inactive for years.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet that the social media platform would remove accounts that had been inactive for several years, and said the measure was important to edit abandoned accounts.
Twitter billionaire owner added in a separate tweet that inactive accounts would be archived. Musk did not give any details on when the operation would begin.
Twitter tried in 2019 to remove inactive accounts before the platform backtracked on its plan after a backlash from people who suggested this would wipe out the archive of deceased people's tweets.
The company's management announced at the time that it was suspending the plan until it found a good way to commemorate the accounts of deceased people, according to Time magazine.
Twitter said in a series of tweets at the time: "We have heard about the impact this has on the accounts of the deceased. It was a mistake on our part."
"We will not delete any inactive accounts until we come up with a new way for people to commemorate the accounts of the deceased."