Facebook will allow users to "unsend" messages in Messenger
What's the story
After it was reported that Mark Zuckerberg's sent messages on Messenger were erased from personal chats, Facebook has come up with plans to launch an "unsend" feature for all users. The issue was that Facebook neither publicly nor privately disclosed the removal of Zuckerberg's messages, and it shocked users that the company could tamper with private chats without any heads up.
Context
Facebook can dive into your private chats on Messenger
You can only delete a message from your end of the conversation and not from the inbox of the recipient, but Zuckerberg's messages from as back as 2010 have disappeared from several inboxes. This is a special functionality not available to anyone else. In response, Facebook said that after the 2014 Sony hack that revealed company secrets, it decided to "protect executive communication."
Damage Control
Facebook trying to soften the breach of trust?
Now announcing the plans for an "unsend" feature for all, it seems like Facebook is trying to soften the breach of trust, as many users are seeing it. The feature could make Zuckerberg look like a beta tester and eventually normalize the issue. "Until this feature is ready, we will no longer be deleting any executives' messages," a Facebook spokesperson said.
Quote
Facebook apologizes for announcing the plans only now
"We have discussed this feature several times. We will now be making a broader delete message feature available. This may take some time. We should have done this sooner - and we're sorry that we did not," he added.
Details
Set timer on your messages to make them disappear retrospectively
According to reports, the "unsend" feature might function through an expiration timer that users will be able to set on messages. Once the timer runs out, the concerned message would disappear from both ends of a conversation. Notably, Facebook already offers a secret message feature in the encrypted version of Messenger that functions in the same way. Messenger now has 1.3 billion users worldwide.