Elon Musk is still yet to confirm whether he will abide by the result of a Twitter poll that showed millions of users believe he should step down as chief executive of the site.
Normally a prolific user of the platform, the Tesla boss has not tweeted since the result of the poll, which he created, was confirmed on Monday morning, with 57.5% of the more than 17.5 million accounts that voted saying he should step down as the head of Twitter.
Mr Musk posted the poll to Twitter on Sunday night and said he would respect the result of it, after weeks of controversial decisions.
These have included loosening Twitter’s content moderation approach and allowing previously banned users to return, but also banning and then reinstating some journalists reporting on him and introducing and then appearing to remove a policy which banned users from tweeting links to certain other social media platforms.
Some online safety groups have accused the billionaire of allowing hate, abuse and misinformation to more easily circulate on the platform because of his free speech principles.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
During his tenure, Mr Musk has also laid off more than half of the company’s global workforce.
One investment expert said the poll was just the latest incident to damage Mr Musk’s reputation with shareholders in his other businesses, as well as other stakeholders.
Antoine Argouges, chief executive and founder of the ethical investment firm Tulipshare, said: “Elon Musk’s decision to call on Twitter users to vote on whether he should remain the CEO is the latest in a string of controversial decisions that is undermining his reputation and credibility with shareholders.
“Consumers have sent a strong message to Musk today as Twitter users voted in favour of him stepping down as CEO of the social media platform, after Musk stated he would abide by the results of the poll.
“This is the latest move in a long line of actions that demonstrate his volatility and how his preoccupation with Twitter is damaging confidence amongst his shareholders.”
Should I run Twitter ?
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) December 19, 2022
While it remains unclear who could replace Mr Musk if he does step down, several commentators have noted that the billionaire would still have the final say on major decisions as Twitter’s owner.
Industry expert Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight said Twitter users should “expect the unexpected” when it comes to the future direction and leadership of the firm.
American rapper Snoop Dogg has put himself forward to take over from Mr Musk, starting his own Twitter poll asking if he should run the company, with 81% of those taking part so far saying he should, with more than 1.8 million votes cast by Monday afternoon.
