Elon Musk said he will restrict voting on significant policy decisions only to paying Twitter Blue subscribers just a day after users voted mostly in favour of a poll he put up asking if he should step down as CEO.
Mr Musk has not directly commented on the poll many hours after it closed and showed at least 57.5 per cent were in favour of him stepping down. The Tesla billionaire had earlier said he would abide by the poll’s results.
The latest decision to restrict voting on major policy decisions has been criticised by the social media giant’s users.
Mr Musk was responding to a follower who goes by the handle @Unfilteredboss1 on Twitter. The user’s bio description states him to be a “Right Wing Latino”, “proud capitalist” and “Crypto enthusiast”.
“Blue subscribers should be the only ones that can vote in policy related [sic] polls. We actually have skin in the game,” he wrote.
The billionaire promptly agreed to the suggestion in a reply, saying: “Good point. Twitter will make that change.”
Social media users tore into the multibillionaire and accused him of being a hypocrite.
“He said he wanted @Twitter to be the ‘public square’ but now some folks want you to pay admission in order to fully participate. And he agrees. So much for @elonmusk being a free-speech absolutist,” wrote Twitter user Robert Michael Murray.
“Loving that Elon went from “I’m making Twitter a bastion of free speech and democracy” and then immediately banned journalists and implemented a poll tax,” wrote another user.
“So basically you’re going to restrict voting to people willing to give you their money? That will definitely lead to less biased poll results,” said another person.
Since the closing of the poll asking him to step down, Mr Musk has not directly commented on the issue, except for replying to a satirical story by The Babylon Bee, a conservative satire site, with two laugh emojis.
The Twitter post shared by the site, which was reinstated by Mr Musk, was for a satirical take on his poll.
