Take It Back

Facebook Secretly Deletes Some of Zuckerberg’s Private Messages

Company insists it’s a security measure.

Lots of us have sent a message on Facebook we wish we could delete, but, unlike other messaging apps such as WhatsApp, you can’t take back sent messages on the site—unless, that is, you’re Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook has confirmed some of the Facebook founder’s messages to users have disappeared from their inboxes, with the company claiming it was done to protect corporate security. Facebook never publicly disclosed the removal of messages from users’ inboxes, nor privately informed the recipients, news site TechCrunch reported. A spokesperson for Facebook said: “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.” Normal Facebook users cannot delete their messages from recipients’ inboxes, indicating Zuckerberg and other executives receive special treatment in being able to pull back their sent messages.