Elon Musk asks if he should step down in Twitter poll
Billionaire Elon Musk – the new owner of Twitter – is asking users of the social media site to vote, via a Twitter poll, on whether he should stay the boss of Twitter.
He tweeted the poll to his 122 million followers, saying: “Should I step down as head … I will abide by the results …”
Musk has faced controversy and backlash since taking over the platform – for $44bn.
Musk has announced major policy changes will be voted on moving forward.
The poll comes as Twitter says it will shut down accounts that are created solely to promote other social media platforms.
That also means accounts that link off to or contain usernames from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribal, Nostr and Post, the company said.
But cross-content posting from other sites will still be allowed.
Twitter has already started blocking users from sharing some links to Mastodon – the platform many Twitter users moved to after Musk’s takeover.
On Sunday, Twitter said: “We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.
“Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribal, Nostr and Post.”
But a few hours after the announcement, Musk appeared to backtrack slightly. He said that “casually sharing occasional links is fine, but no more relentless advertising of competitors for free, which is absurd in the extreme.”
Chaos since Musk’s Twitter takeover
It’s not been a smooth takeover for Elon Musk – who no longer holds the title of the world’s richest man, thanks in part to the chaotic nature of his Twitter takeover.
There have been many controversial changes since Musk bought the site in October.
Around half of its staff have been fired, and then there was the messy rollout of the paid-for verification feature – which was put on pause due to people creating fake accounts. The feature was relaunched last week.
Musk’s approach to content moderation has also been criticised, with many critics arguing his approach will increase hate speech and misinformation.
Last week he suspended journalists who shared data about his location. He reinstated a number of journalists after the EU and UN called it an attack on press freedom.
