Dan GillmorJan 5, 2023

I keep saying journalists should leave Twitter and use Mastodon, which is better for them in every way. At TechDirt I've posted a somewhat lengthy why-and-how: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/04/journalists-and-others-should-leave-twitter-heres-how-they-can-get-started/

#journalism #twitterexodus

Journalists (And Others) Should Leave Twitter. Here’s How They Can Get Started

Summary: Elon Musk has demonstrated contempt for free speech in general, and journalism in particular, with his behavior at Twitter. He is also demonstrating why it is foolhardy for anyone to rely …

Techdirt
Show threadNicole Sullivan
@dangillmor how do you protect sources without encrypted DMs?
Jan 5, 2023 at 9:04amWeb
Show threadDan GillmorJan 5, 2023
@stubbornella Twitter DMs, as we've seen, are not protected from the owner of the company. Journalists who use DMs with sources rather than something like Signal are taking massive risks with their sources' well-being. (Same applies to direct messages on Mastodon: They are not secure.)
Show threadTimo GrünJan 5, 2023
@dangillmor @stubbornella
I frequently experience that professionals like journalists can develop an exaggerated confidence in their understanding of IT and security because they they have learned to use IT products confidently.
Show threadmast_sewJan 7, 2023
@stubbornella @dangillmor Twitter DMs are not encrypted - just to be clear. Hopefully no sources are assuming that?
Show threadNicole SullivanJan 10, 2023
@mast_sew @dangillmor do most folks know what encryption is? I’m not a good judge of that.
Show threadDan GillmorJan 10, 2023
@stubbornella Good question. My impression is that most people have a basic understanding of what it is but maybe I'm wrong. @mast_sew
Show threadmast_sewJan 10, 2023

@dangillmor @stubbornella Yeah, that's my take. Most people (at least, in the pool of people that you would say this too) will understand what you mean if you say "This message is encrypted".

Determining whether something is securely encrypted, and how to securely encrypt something, that's the hard bits.