A ballot launched by Twitter CEO Elon Musk asking customers whether or not he ought to step down from his place confirmed that greater than half of 17.5 million voters responded in favor of the choice because it closed on Monday.
About 57.5% of voters opted for “Yes,” whereas 42.5% have been in opposition to the thought of Musk quitting his CEO place.
There was no instant announcement from Twitter, or Musk, about whether or not that will occur, although he mentioned that he would abide by the outcomes.
Musk has clashed with some customers on a number of fronts and on Sunday, he requested Twitter customers to resolve if he ought to keep in control of the social media platform after acknowledging he made a mistake in launching new speech restrictions that banned mentions of rival social media web sites.
In yet one more vital coverage change, Twitter had introduced that customers will not have the ability to hyperlink to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and different platforms the corporate described as “prohibited.”
But that call generated a lot instant criticism, together with from previous defenders of Twitter’s new billionaire proprietor, that Musk promised to not make any extra main coverage modifications with out an internet survey of customers.
The motion to dam rivals was Musk’s newest try and crack down on sure speech after he shut down a Twitter account final week that was monitoring the flights of his non-public jet.
The banned platforms included mainstream web sites comparable to Facebook and Instagram, and upstart rivals Mastodon, Tribel, Nostr, Post and former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Twitter gave no rationalization for why the blacklist included these seven web sites however not others comparable to Parler, TikTok or LinkedIn.
Twitter had mentioned it will not less than briefly droop accounts that embody the banned web sites of their profile – a apply so widespread it will have been troublesome to implement the restrictions on Twitter’s tens of millions of customers all over the world. Not solely hyperlinks however makes an attempt to bypass the ban by spelling out “instagram dot com” may have led to a suspension, the corporate mentioned.
A take a look at case was the distinguished enterprise capitalist Paul Graham, who prior to now has praised Musk however on Sunday informed his 1.5 million Twitter followers that this was the “final straw” and to seek out him on Mastodon. His Twitter account was promptly suspended, and shortly after restored as Musk promised to reverse the coverage carried out simply hours earlier.
Musk mentioned Twitter will nonetheless droop some accounts in line with the coverage however “solely when that account’s (asterisk)major(asterisk) objective is promotion of rivals.”
Twitter beforehand took motion to dam hyperlinks to Mastodon after its essential Twitter account tweeted in regards to the @ElonJet controversy final week. Mastodon has grown quickly in latest weeks in its place for Twitter customers who’re sad with Musk’s overhaul of Twitter since he purchased the corporate for $44 billion in late October and commenced restoring accounts that ran afoul of the earlier Twitter management’s guidelines in opposition to hateful conduct and different harms.
Musk completely banned the @ElonJet account on Wednesday, then modified Twitter’s guidelines to ban the sharing of one other individual’s present location with out their consent. He then took intention at journalists who have been writing in regards to the jet-tracking account, which might nonetheless be discovered on different social media websites, alleging that they have been broadcasting “mainly assassination coordinates.”
He used that to justify Twitter’s strikes final week to droop the accounts of quite a few journalists who cowl the social media platform and Musk, amongst them reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and different publications. Many of these accounts have been restored following an internet ballot by Musk.
Then, over the weekend, The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz grew to become the newest journalist to be briefly banned. She mentioned she was suspended after posting a message on Twitter tagging Musk and requesting an interview.
Sally Buzbee, The Washington Post’s govt editor, referred to as it an “arbitrary suspension of one other Post journalist” that additional undermined Musk’s promise to run Twitter as a platform devoted to free speech.
“Again, the suspension occurred with no warning, course of or rationalization – this time as our reporter merely sought remark from Musk for a narrative,” Buzbee mentioned. By noon Sunday, Lorenz’s account was restored, as was the tweet she thought had triggered her suspension.
Musk’s promise to let customers resolve his future function at Twitter by means of an unscientific on-line survey appeared to come back out of nowhere Sunday, although he had additionally promised in November {that a} reorganization was occurring quickly.
Musk was questioned in courtroom on Nov. 16 about how he splits his time amongst Tesla and his different corporations, together with SpaceX and Twitter. Musk needed to testify in Delaware’s Court of Chancery over a shareholder’s problem to Musk’s doubtlessly $55 billion compensation plan as CEO of the electrical automobile firm.
Musk mentioned he by no means supposed to be CEO of Tesla, and that he didn’t need to be chief govt of another corporations both, preferring to see himself as an engineer as a substitute. Musk additionally mentioned he anticipated an organizational restructuring of Twitter to be accomplished within the subsequent week or so. It’s been greater than a month since he mentioned that.
In public banter with Twitter followers Sunday, Musk expressed pessimism in regards to the prospects for a brand new CEO, saying that individual “must like pain a lot” to run a company that “has been within the quick lane to chapter.”
“No one desires the job who can really hold Twitter alive. There isn’t any successor,” Musk tweeted.
