Twitter users voted for Elon Musk to step down as CEO of the social media giant, in a poll the technology tycoon conducted on his future plans and promised to follow the results.
After the 51-year-old billionaire asked his 122 million followers if he should step down, 57.5 percent said yes. According to reports, over 17 million votes were cast in the poll, which began on Sunday evening and ended early Monday morning, with the majority of respondents voting in favour.
Musk did not immediately respond to the vote’s outcome.
On Sunday, he tweeted, “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll”.
“As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it,” Musk added in a later tweet.
Musk has previously followed Twitter polls. He’s fond of quoting the phrase “vox populi, vox dei”, a Latin phrase that roughly means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Musk, who also runs Tesla and SpaceX, has moved from one controversy to the next since purchasing Twitter for USD 44 billion and taking over as CEO in late October.
Musk also stated on Twitter that major policy changes would be voted on in the near future.
The poll comes as Twitter says it will shut down accounts solely designed to promote other social media platforms.
According to the reports, the measure would also affect accounts that link to or contain usernames from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post.
But cross-content posting from other sites will still be allowed.
Twitter had already barred users from sharing certain links to Mastodon, the platform to which many Twitter users migrated following Musk’s takeover.
“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,” Twitter said in a series of tweets on Sunday.
“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, Tribel, Nostr and Post.” Examples of possible violations could include tweets such as “follow me @username on Instagram” or “check out my profile on Facebook – facebook.com/username”, according to a blog detailing the details.
Any attempt to circumvent the restrictions would also be considered a violation. Musk’s announcement was the latest in a string of controversial Twitter decisions, following the suspension of more than a dozen journalists who cover Musk last week.
Musk immediately fired several top executives, including its Indian-American CEO Parag Agrawal, and laid off about half of Twitter’s staff after he took over as head of the social media platform in October.
He then gave an ultimatum to the remaining staff that they need to do “extremely hardcore” work or leave, resulting in another thousand or so employees quitting the company.
Musk has started, stopped, and restarted a new verification system that charges USD 8 for a blue check mark.
The billionaire’s approach to content moderation has also been criticised, with some civil liberties organisations accusing him of encouraging hate speech and misinformation.
On Friday, he reinstated a number of journalists he had suspended for allegedly sharing location data about him, a move that was condemned as an attack on press freedom by the EU and the UN.
Reporters from the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post were among those whose accounts were locked.