Elon Musk might be on the way out as head of Twitter after nearly 60 per cent of the site’s users voted for him to be sacked.
After weeks of criticism for how he has run the website since he took it over at the end of October, the Chief Twit put a review of his performance to the people.
More than 17.5million people cast their vote in a poll asking if he should quit his job as CEO.
‘Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll,’ the Chief Twit posted just before 6.30pm on Sunday evening.
‘Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of the poll,’ Musk asked. The result was a resounding yes
Musk vowed to step down as head of Twitter if people voted him out. Pictured: Musk (centre) stands next to Jared Kushner at the World Cup final in Qatar last night
When it closed 12 hours later at 6.20am EST (3.20am PST) the result was a resounding thumbs down for one of the world’s richest men – 57.5 per cent of users said they wanted him out, equating to over 10million users.
By comparison, 42.5 per cent voted in favour of keeping him on as head of the website, the equivalent of nearly 7.5million users.
It is not clear at this time who will replace him if he does follow through on his threat and step down as boss.
After setting the poll live Musk warned: ‘As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.’
Before it closed he added: ‘Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it.’
The move by Musk split users on the website, with some gloating over his imminent removal before the vote had even finished.
Lynnette Khalfani Cox said: ‘Could anyone besides a white, male billionaire like Elon Musk even *think* about running a major, publicly-traded biz on the basis of a poll? The Twitter CEO is called “eccentric,” a “maverick,” “genius” etc. But if a woman did this she’d be “irrational” — and promptly fired.’
Musk was seen shaking hands with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Lusail Stadium last night
Musk watches on as Argentina play France at the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday, December 18
But supporters of the CEO said saying if he stepped down his critics might regret it.
Colin Rugg wrote: ‘I have a feeling Elon Musk already has a Twitter CEO picked out and this person will piss the left off even more.’
Luke Rudkowski added: ‘Two hours before the poll closes he will announce a successor that will freak everyone out’
Rapper Snoop Dogg jokingly ran a poll of his own, asking his followers if he should replace Musk by posing the question: ‘Should I run Twitter?’
After 10 hours 81.8 per cent of the one million people who voted in his poll said yes.
Snoop Dog, pictured here in Bel Air, California, joined in by asking if he should take over as CEO
It was yet another dramatic moment in the rollercoaster ride that Twitter has been on since Musk completed his $44billion takeover of the social media site in October.
In this last week alone he came under criticism for banning journalists who linked to a website showing the location of his private jet, as well as implementing a ban on Twitter accounts that promote Facebook and Instagram and quickly U-turning on this.
Musk has caught flack in recent days and weeks over his handling of the app, including his recent suspension of notable journalists who have covered him.
On Saturday evening, he kicked Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz off the app after she was accused of revealing the exact address of TikTok talent scout Ariadna Jacob in a 2020 article.
Lorenz confirmed she was booted from the platform on Saturday night in a TikTok video but Musk said less than 12 hours later he would be lifting her ban.
‘Temp suspension due to prior doxxing action by this account,’ Musk wrote in response to a Tweet about Lorenz’s ban. ‘Will be lifted shortly.’
The head of Twitter also suspended journalists from the New York Times, Washington Post and Buzzfeed last week, accusing them of ‘doxxing’ him and revealing his address.
He banned a total of nine journalists on Thursday after they reported on his decision to block an account charting his private jet use.
Musk, pictured here at Offshore Northern Seas 2022 in Stavenger, Norway, has come under criticism for the way he has run Twitter
The nine accounts were immediately restored on Friday evening, after he asked his followers to vote on whether they should be reinstated or remain suspended for a week, with users choosing the first option.
Musk had said the journalists ‘doxxed’ him by revealing his private information; the journalists insisted that they had not published his address or location.
On Thursday evening, BuzzFeed News tech reporter Katie Notopoulos hosted a Twitter Spaces discussion, which Musk joined.
‘Everyone’s going to be treated the same,’ said Musk, defending his decision to suspend the reporters’ accounts.
‘They’re not special just because you’re a journalist.’
Shortly before the discussion, he tweeted: ‘They posted my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service.’
On Sunday Musk walked back on a Twitter policy that would see all posts linking to rival social media platforms deleted and accounts doing so be suspended.
The decision to reverse on the harsh policy came after Musk was challenged by the likes of Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s founder, and whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Just a few hours after announcing the new rules on Sunday, the tweets and web page outlining them were taken down.
The Chief Twit then put out a tweet from his own account saying the rules would be changed, suggesting: ‘Policy will be adjusted to suspending accounts only when that account’s *primary* purpose is promotion of competitors, which essentially falls under the no spam rule.’,
Sites on the list of ‘prohibited social media platforms’ included: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post and Nostr.
The debacle began at around 5.30pm ET on Sunday when Twitter Support – an official page – posted three Tweets outlining the new policy.
Twitter announced plans to ban ‘accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms’ on Sunday. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey replied ‘why?’
The policy was quickly rolled back, with the tweets by Twitter Support being deleted
The new rules would see posts promoting alternative social media platforms, either through tweets or in profile bios, suspended or potentially removed.
The since-deleted and stricter tweets implied that in contrast, action would be taken against any content linking to a prohibited social media site.
Twitter founder Dorsey, who initially supported Musk’s takeover, replied to the set of with a simple question: ‘Why?’
Whistleblower Edward Snowden offered public support for Balaji Srinivasan, who had his out suspended under the new policy.
‘This is bad policy and should be reversed,’ Snowden said. Musk responded shortly after saying that the account would be reinstated.
In recent weeks Musk has been releasing the so-called ‘Twitter files’, revealing how the site interacted with the US Government before he took over.
The first batch of files related to the Hunter Biden saga and efforts to get pictures of him removed from the website.
In the second release last night, again posted by journalist Matt Taibi, it was found the FBI demanded execs for the social media giant to give them information about how they were enforcing safety online.
The released emails show that former ‘Twitter censor’ Yoel Roth feared the FBI was breaking the law to help US intelligence engage in domestic operations after receiving the requests from agent Elvis Chan’.
He responded to Chan saying: ‘I’m frankly perplexed by the requests here, which seem more like something we’d get from a congressional committee than the Bureau.’
The FBI responded to Taibbi with a statement to Taibi, saying: ‘The FBI regularly engages with private sector entities to provide information specific to identified foreign malign influence actors’ subversive, undeclared, covert, or criminal activities.’
