(Photo : CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
This photo illustration taken on December 18, 2022 in Los Angeles shows a phone displaying Elon Musk's Twitter page where he is conducting a survey about his future as the head of the company. - Twitter announced on December 18 it would no longer allow users to promote their accounts on several rival social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, but the site's mercurial owner Elon Musk appeared to backtrack on the new policy just hours later.
Tech mogul Elon Musk faced outrage from Twitter users, who voted in a poll for him to resign less than 60 days after becoming the social media network's CEO.
According to a poll the billionaire started on Sunday night, almost 57.5% of respondents favored Musk leaving his position as Twitter's CEO, while 42.5% opposed it. There were almost 17.5 million voters, per Reuters.
Musk said on Sunday he would "abide" by the outcomes of the poll but did not provide specifics on when he would stand aside if results showed he should.
Rappler reported that, in response to a question on a prospective Twitter CEO change on Sunday, Musk said: "There is no successor."
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
On Monday, some of the top trending topics on Twitter were "Elon," "CEO of Twitter," "vote Yes," and "vote No."
'Be Careful What You Wish For'
The Elon Musk poll was disclosed after the billionaire noted that he had committed an error by enforcing new limitations that prevented references to rival social networking services, even established ones like Facebook and Instagram, which Meta owns.
According to several news sources, upstart websites, including Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post, were also put on Musk's banned list. Twitter users are no longer allowed to connect to such "prohibited" networks.
Twitter announced that it would indefinitely suspend any accounts that include the forbidden website addresses in their profile, per Anadolu.
However, other major platforms, such as TikTok, LinkedIn, and Parler, were not included in the ban.
Sunday, after the Elon Musk poll went live, he tweeted: "As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it."
The Elon Musk poll received hundreds of thousands of retweets and likes, according to Unilad.
Tesla is regarded as one of the top manufacturers in the world, delivering over a million vehicles per year. But recent logistical hurdles, pandemic-related lockdowns in China, rising borrowing rates, and a dismal outlook for global economic growth have aroused worries.
Elon Musk said before a Delaware court last month that he will work less at Twitter and ultimately select a new CEO to head the social media firm.
Elon Musk Pursues Free Speech
Elon Musk, who also serves as CEO of Tesla and several other firms, suspended the reporters after claiming they had risked his family by revealing his whereabouts.
Having just changed the site's doxxing regulations to prevent accounts from tracking private planes like his own private jet, Musk made the assertion.
Private services like FlightAware and Flightradar24 use public FAA flight data for their own purposes.
Over the weekend, Twitter restored the majority of the disabled accounts after Musk polled his followers on whether or not they should be restored immediately, per Al Jazeera.
Following his October acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion, Musk has been a focal point for discussions about free speech, internet safety, and the influence of social media on democracy.
Elon Musk, an absolute proponent of free speech, has promised to reduce what he calls the site's leftist tilt and increase the number of voices heard on the platform.
There have been accusations that Elon Musk tolerates hate speech on the site and stifles dissenting viewpoints.
Related Article: Twitter Suspends Journalists' Accounts After Allegedly Accusing Elon Musk Jet-Tracking of 'Doxxing'
