X is ‘pausing’ encrypted DMs

X customers can now not ship encrypted messages on the platform. The corporate mentioned in that it is “pausing” the characteristic “whereas we work on making some enhancements.” Customers will nonetheless be capable to view previously-sent encrypted chats, however will not be capable to ship any new ones.

To this point, encrypted DMs have been obtainable solely on messages between verified customers who’re mutual or who’ve beforehand accepted DMs from one another. Screenshots of the characteristic from X’s labeled it as “early entry.” (Notably, there have been quite a lot of different necessary caveats to X’s encryption, even when it was working, together with the truth that encryption was by no means obtainable for group chats, multimedia messages or metadata .)

It is unclear when the characteristic will likely be obtainable once more or if the “pause” has something to do with “XChat,” the corporate’s yet-to-be-launched chat platform. X staff have been about XChat, which can reportedly characteristic encrypted direct messages, for a while. Screenshots from leakers counsel XChat may have further security measures like chats.

Formally, although, X hasn’t revealed a lot about XChat or what is going on on with the present model of encrypted DMs. X’s in-app inbox was one of many options that skilled quite a few points final week after a site-wide outage — probably as a consequence of a hearth at an Oregon facility utilized by the corporate — triggered for the service. Updates on the corporate’s developer point out a few of these points have but to be resolved.

X did not reply to a request for remark.