Musk says Twitter to soon allow calls, encrypted messaging

[May 10, 2023]  (Reuters) - Twitter Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Tuesday revealed details about new features including adding calls and encrypted messaging coming to the platform.

Last year, Musk flagged plans for "Twitter 2.0 The Everything App", which he said would have features such as encrypted direct messages (DMs), longform tweets and payments.

Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are displayed through magnifier in this illustration taken October 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo

"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," Musk said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The call feature on Twitter will bring the micro-blogging platform into line with the likes of Meta's social media applications, Facebook and Instagram, which have similar features.

Musk said a version of encrypted direct messages will be available on Twitter starting Wednesday, but did not say if calls will be encrypted.

Twitter this week said it will start a cleansing process by removing and archiving accounts that have been inactive for several years.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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