Elon Musk places future as Twitter chief to public vote

Twitter’s proprietor Elon Musk is asking customers of the social media platform to vote on his future as its chief government officer.

In a ballot to his 122 million followers, he tweeted: “Should I step down as head… I will abide by the results…”

The expertise tycoon, who additionally runs Tesla and Space X, has confronted large criticism since taking up Twitter.

After a serious authorized battle, Mr Musk took management of the corporate in October in a $44bn (£36bn) deal.

It comes as Twitter says it’s going to shut down accounts solely designed to advertise different social media platforms.

The measure would additionally have an effect on accounts that hyperlink off to or include usernames from platforms similar to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post, the corporate mentioned in a tweet.

But cross-content posting from different websites will nonetheless be allowed.

Former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, who not too long ago invested in Nostr, replied to the Twitter put up with one phrase: “Why?”.

In a reply to a different consumer posting concerning the Nostr promotion ban, Dorsey mentioned, “doesn’t make sense”.

On Saturday, Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz was suspended for breaking the brand new rule earlier than it had been formally introduced.

After being reinstated on Sunday she posted a hyperlink to the tweet she claimed obtained her barred.

Twitter had already blocked customers from sharing some hyperlinks to Mastodon, the platform many Twitter customers moved to after Mr Musk’s takeover.

But in a collection of tweets on Sunday Twitter mentioned: “We recognize 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.

“Specifically, we are going to take away accounts created solely for the aim of selling different social platforms and content material that incorporates hyperlinks or usernames for the next platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post.”

Examples of possible violations could include tweets such as “observe me @username on Instagram” or “try my profile on Facebook – fb.com/username”, it mentioned in a weblog setting out the small print.

Any attempts to bypass the restrictions would also be a breach, it added.

Those who break the rules for the first time or as in an “remoted incident” could be asked to delete the offending tweets or be temporarily locked out of their accounts.

But any subsequent offenses “will end in everlasting suspension”, it mentioned.

Users can continue to post content to Twitter from prohibited platforms, however, and paid adverts from those sites will still be allowed.

Just a few hours after the announcement, Mr Musk appeared to contradict it by tweeting that “casually sharing occasional links is fine, but no more relentless advertising of competitors for free, which is absurd in the extreme”.

Meanwhile, the boss of Post, one of many prohibited platforms, promoted his web site in a tweet following the announcement.

“We make it easy to add all your social media links to your profile since none of us only use one platform,” Noam Bardin tweeted, including “Freedom = Choice.”

There has been flurry of controversial modifications at Twitter since Mr Musk purchased the social media web site for $44bn (£36bn) in October.

He has fired round half of its employees and tried a chaotic rollout of Twitter’s paid-for verification function earlier than placing it on pause. The function was relaunched final week.

The billionaire’s approach to content material moderation has additionally been criticised, with some civil liberties teams accusing him of taking steps that can enhance hate speech and misinformation.

On Friday, he reinstated various journalists he had suspended for allegedly sharing location knowledge about him after the EU and UN known as it an assault on press freedom.

Reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post had been amongst these locked out of their accounts.