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San Francisco (AFP) – The majority of participants in a poll launched by Elon Musk on Twitter voted on Monday in favor of the tycoon’s exit from the management of the social network, which he took control of a few weeks ago.
57.5% of the more than 17 million accounts that responded to the poll spoke in favor of leaving Musk, who tweeted on Sunday: “Should I step down as head of Twitter?” and assured him that he would respect the result.
Musk, who is also the head of automaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, didn’t react immediately.
The South African-born entrepreneur took the reins of Twitter himself last October 27 after a controversial purchase agreement for the social network for 44,000 million dollars.
Since then, several controversies have arisen with the dismissal of half of Twitter’s staff, the reintegration of far-right figures on the platform, the suspension of journalists and the attempt to charge for services that were previously free.
Analysts also noted that Tesla’s stock price has dropped by a third since Musk acquired Twitter.
“It’s hard to ignore the numbers since the deal closed [de Twitter]Investment expert Gary Black tweeted, saying he believed Tesla’s board was pressuring Musk to step down from his Twitter role.
In exchanges with users after posting his latest survey, Musk said he has no successor in mind and renewed his warnings that the platform could be on the path to bankruptcy.
Dorsey baffled
Musk, one of the richest men in the world, asked Twitter users if they wanted him to continue running the platform shortly after trying to shrug off yet another controversy.
On Sunday, Twitter announced that users of the platform would no longer be able to include links to other social networks, such as Facebook or Instagram, in their posts. If they did, they would be subject to penalties.
Hours later, Musk backed down, saying his intention was to “suspend accounts only when the ‘main’ purpose of those accounts is to promote competitors.”
The attempt to ban the posting of links to other social networks drew complaints and disapproval and even puzzled Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who had supported the Musk takeover.
Dorsey questioned the new policy with a terse tweet: “Why?”
“Perfect storm”
Analyst Dan Ives of consultancy Wedbush called Musk’s tenure a “perfect storm”. He highlighted the massive defection of advertisers, which he said left Twitter “in the red”.
Shortly after taking over the platform, Musk announced that the site would charge $8 a month to verify the identities of account holders. But he had to put the controversial “Twitter Blue” plan on hold after an embarrassing spate of fake accounts.
On Nov. 4, when Musk said the company was losing $4 million a day, Twitter laid off half of its 7,500 employees.
Musk also reinstated Donald Trump’s account, although the former US president has indicated he has no interest in the platform, saying Twitter will no longer work to combat disinformation about COVID-19.
In the latest controversy, Musk on Wednesday suspended the @elonjet account, which automatically reported the movements of the tycoon’s private jet, assuring it could endanger his family.
It then temporarily suspended the reporting of several journalists who reported on the matter.
Employees of CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post were among those affected by a move that drew strong criticism, including from the European Union and the United Nations.
The Twitter account of journalist Taylor Lorenz, who covers the technology sector for the Washington Post, was also suspended for several hours over the weekend. It was reinstated on Sunday, but the @elonjet account was still suspended on Monday.
© 2022 AFP
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