Twitter's verified users get early access to encrypted messaging

FILE PHOTO: A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed Twitter logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Thursday allowed users who subscribe to its Blue verification feature an early access to its encrypted messaging service.

The social media platform, owned and run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, said the service was now available to verified users who have the latest version of the app installed.

A Twitter Blue subscription, which has now become the basis for verification on the platform, starts at $8 per month, or $84 a year.

"As Elon Musk said, when it comes to Direct Messages, the standard should be, if someone puts a gun to our heads, we still can't access your messages," the company said on a blog post.

"We're not quite there yet, but we're working on it."

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)