Ending last week, a new controversy took place around Twitter, after a sudden change in policies on the social network, which resulted in the temporary closure of Twitter Spaces and the suspension of the accounts of some journalists who covered the recent controversy surrounding the account that tracked the location of his private jet.
The accounts suspended in that instance were reinstated, except for those that were used to promote other platforms, Mastodon being the most affected. This determination did nothing but keep tempers agitated, which is why Musk apologized, ensuring that future policy changes will be decided by Twitter polls, including an upcoming consultation on his future as CEO of the company.
According to Elon Musk, the future of Twitter will be defined by polls
The new twitter policy was raised in order to prevent users from promoting or giving visibility to sites that violate Twitter rules. Regarding this, it should be clarified that the objections that are raised are against the “free promotion” of links to third-party platforms, which suggests the possibility of doing so only through an advertising package.
Failure to comply with this rule, which was announced as valid as of January 2023, may result in a temporary limitation or permanent removal of the offending account. Although the blocking of the links to Mastodon’s servers has been what has triggered the alerts, given its sudden classification as spam, the new rule indicates that this would also apply to platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Truth Social.
As a result of this determination, criticism emerged from various sources, including people who previously supported Musk’s management on the social network. After this, the CEO and owner of Twitter apologized, commenting: “In the future, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. It will not happen again”.
He then published a poll on Twitter, asking users if he should resign from the top executive position of the social network.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
The close of this survey was scheduled for before the opening of the stock market. With one hour to go until the end —at the time of publishing this note—, with almost 14 million votes, the option in favor of his resignation prevails by 56.8%.
Musk assured that he will comply with the results of this survey, which he has done with previous consultations. “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for as you just might get it”, added about.
Those who have shown great concern about Elon Musk’s presence on Twitter are Tesla shareholders, who they fear that the businessman will neglect his automotive company for focusing on his newly acquired social network. If the businessman complies with stepping aside with the Twitter address, at Tesla they will surely be the first to rejoice.
