Elon Musk has asked Twitter users whether he should step down as the head of the company, promising to abide by the results of his poll.
Musk assumed the role of CEO at the end of October after firing a host of senior executives and dissolving its board of directors. Within minutes of posting the poll, more than one million people had voted.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
After 20 minutes of polling, when the yes vote gained a double-digit lead, Musk responded to a suggestion that he had already picked a new CEO, saying: “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”
He also walked back the site’s latest policy controversy, after Twitter announced that it would remove accounts that offered “free promotion of certain social media platforms”.
Musk said the policy would be adjusted to affect only accounts whose “primary purpose is promotion of competitors, which essentially falls under the no spam rule”.
The platform earlier said the move would affect content from numerous social media websites, including Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post, but would allow cross-content posting.
However, video platform TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, was not included in the list.
The announcement came on Sunday – the same day that Musk tweeted photos from the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, where he watched Argentina beat France on penalties to win the men’s football World Cup.
Musk attended the game alongside Jared Kushner, a former US presidential adviser and Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Trump’s Truth Social was among the platforms named in the Twitter linking ban.
On the initial policy change, the Twitter Support account said: “We recognise 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.”
It gave examples of content that would be removed including “follow me @username on Instagram” and “check out my profile on Facebook – facebook.com/username”.
It added: “We still allow cross-posting content from any social media platform. Posting links or usernames to social media platforms not listed above are also not in violation of this policy.”
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who recently invested in Nostr, replied to the Twitter support post with one word: “Why?” In a reply to another user posting about the Nostr promotion ban, Dorsey said it “doesn’t make sense”.
More information on this policy, as well as how we will take action on violations, can be found here: https://t.co/X2ruthloBt
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) December 18, 2022
Noam Bardin, the founder of Post, tweeted: “Just wanted to assure everyone that you can post any link you want on http://post.news.
“We make it easy to add all your social media links to your profile since none of us only use one platform. Freedom = Choice.”
He added: “In case I get kicked off this platform … So long and thanks for all the fish …”
Last week, Twitter disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, a volunteer group formed in 2016 to advise the social media platform on site decisions.
The policy change follows other contentious decisions at Twitter since Musk bought the social network in October, including sacking senior management and laying off about half of its workforce. A number of major advertisers left the platform over concerns about its direction.
Musk, 51, also suspended the accounts of several journalists after a controversy over publishing public data about the movement of his private jet. He later reinstated the accounts after criticism from government officials, advocacy groups and journalism organisations.
The billionaire, who was warned that he could face EU sanctions over his initial decision, asked Twitter users what he should do. Nearly 3.7 million people voted, 58.7% of whom said he should U-turn on the ban immediately, rather than in a week’s time.
“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” he tweeted.
