TechCrunch reported last night that Facebook retracted Facebook messages sent by Mark Zuckerberg and other executives from their recipients’ inboxes. That’s an ability normal Facebook users don’t have. But now Facebook tells me it plans to make an “unsend” feature available to all users in several months, and has already been considering how to build this product. Until the unsend feature is released for everyone, Facebook says it won’t unsend or retract any more of Zuckerberg’s messages.
The retractions of Zuckerberg’s messages and those from other users were never previously disclosed until Facebook confirmed the news to TechCrunch last night after we reported having email receipt evidence of messages that have since disappeared. Many users are seeing that as a breach of trust.
To recap, three sources confirmed that Facebook messages they had received from Mark Zuckerberg had disappeared from their inboxes. When we told Facebook we had an email receipt proving the retractions, Facebook gave TechCrunch this statement: “After Sony Pictures’ emails were hacked in 2014 we made a number of changes to protect our executives’ communications. These included limiting the retention period for Mark’s messages in Messenger. We did so in full compliance with our legal obligations to preserve messages.”
But tampering with users’ inboxes without disclosure has struck many users a violation of Facebook’s power. Many asked why Zuckerberg and other executives had access to functionality not offered to regular users.
Facebook tells TechCrunch is hasn’t finalized exactly how the unsend feature will work. A Facebook Messenger spokesperson tells me only possible option is an expiration timer users can set on messages. When the timer runs out, the message would disappear from both their and the recipients’ inboxes. They tell me this is similar to how retractions of Zuckerberg’s messages work.