Tech

Facebook will now let anyone remove messages from their chat history after people discovered Zuckerberg could

Key Points
  • Facebook will now let anyone remove messages from their chat history on Messenger.
  • An April 2018 TechCrunch report revealed CEO Mark Zuckerberg had deleted messages from his chats.
  • Facebook had reportedly said Zuckerberg would stop using the feature until it became publicly available.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the keynote address at Facebook's F8 Developer Conference on April 18, 2017 at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.
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Facebook Messenger is rolling out the option to delete a regretful or mistaken message from their chat history.

Facebook initially promised the feature after TechCrunch reported in April that multiple people said Facebook messages they received from CEO Mark Zuckerberg later appeared to have been deleted while their own messages remained. At the time, Facebook told TechCrunch Zuckerberg's messages were deleted for security purposes.

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"After Sony Pictures' emails were hacked in 2014 we made a number of changes to protect our executives' communications," Facebook told TechCrunch in a statement at the time. "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."

Following the report, Facebook said it would publicly launch the feature to let users remove their messages from their chat history. Facebook reportedly said it would not have Zuckerberg delete his messages until the feature was publicly launched.

SEE ALSO: Here's how to delete messages you regret sending on Facebook Messenger, just like Mark Zuckerberg

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