“it seems that might encourage some more timid members to post something they aren’t certain about.”
I would think one would want a record of all communications for the authorities to review. Time stamps, sightings in what areas, descriptions, Etc. This would be very important evidence for them to use in an investigation and case against someone.
I dread having to learn all this so that I can instruct other users how to, and your suggestion will be made part of the instruction, about limiting the use of the self-destruct.
Well, this could work both ways. Say you neighbor on patrol texts “Hal, there is this suspicious looking guy pacing outside your house, you might want to check it out. He looks to be Hispanic or maybe a light-skinned black guy”. Well now an innocent comment can turn into a racial targeting incident in the hands of the authorities if something goes south in that encounter. That’s why you want the encryption and auto-deleting messages in Signal, which can be toggled on or off.