Twitter poll closes, users vote in favor of Musk exit as CEO - St. Paul Pioneer Press

By MATT O’BRIEN

More than fractional of 17.5 cardinal users who responded to a canvass that asked whether billionaire Elon Musk should measurement down arsenic caput of Twitter voted yes erstwhile the canvass closed connected Monday.

There was nary contiguous announcement from Twitter, oregon Musk, astir whether that would happen, though helium said that helium would abide by the results.

Musk has clashed with immoderate users connected aggregate fronts and connected Sunday, helium asked Twitter users to determine if helium should enactment successful complaint of the societal media level aft acknowledging helium made a mistake successful launching caller code restrictions that banned mentions of rival societal media websites.

In yet different important argumentation change, Twitter had announced that users volition nary longer beryllium capable to nexus to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and different platforms the institution described arsenic “prohibited.”

But that determination generated truthful overmuch contiguous criticism, including from past defenders of Twitter’s caller billionaire owner, that Musk promised not to marque immoderate much large argumentation changes without an online survey of users.

The enactment to artifact competitors was Musk’s latest effort to ace down connected definite code aft helium unopen down a Twitter relationship past week that was tracking the flights of his backstage jet.

The banned platforms included mainstream websites specified arsenic Facebook and Instagram, and upstart rivals Mastodon, Tribel, Nostr, Post and erstwhile President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Twitter gave nary mentation for wherefore the blacklist included those 7 websites but not others specified arsenic Parler, TikTok oregon LinkedIn.

Twitter had said it would astatine slightest temporarily suspend accounts that see the banned websites successful their illustration — a signifier truthful wide it would person been hard to enforce the restrictions connected Twitter’s millions of users astir the world. Not lone links but attempts to bypass the prohibition by spelling retired “instagram dot com” could person led to a suspension, the institution said.

A trial lawsuit was the salient task capitalist Paul Graham, who successful the past has praised Musk but connected Sunday told his 1.5 cardinal Twitter followers that this was the “last straw” and to find him connected Mastodon. His Twitter relationship was promptly suspended, and soon aft restored arsenic Musk promised to reverse the argumentation implemented conscionable hours earlier.

Musk said Twitter volition inactive suspend immoderate accounts according to the argumentation but “only erstwhile that account’s (asterisk)primary(asterisk) intent is promotion of competitors.”

Twitter antecedently took enactment to artifact links to Mastodon aft its main Twitter relationship tweeted astir the @ElonJet contention past week. Mastodon has grown rapidly successful caller weeks arsenic an alternate for Twitter users who are unhappy with Musk’s overhaul of Twitter since helium bought the institution for $44 cardinal successful precocious October and began restoring accounts that ran afoul of the erstwhile Twitter leadership’s rules against hateful behaviour and different harms.

Musk permanently banned the @ElonJet relationship connected Wednesday, past changed Twitter’s rules to prohibit the sharing of different person’s existent determination without their consent. He past took purpose astatine journalists who were penning astir the jet-tracking account, which tin inactive beryllium recovered connected different societal media sites, alleging that they were broadcasting “basically assassination coordinates.”

He utilized that to warrant Twitter’s moves past week to suspend the accounts of galore journalists who screen the societal media level and Musk, among them reporters moving for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and different publications. Many of those accounts were restored pursuing an online canvass by Musk.

Then, implicit the weekend, The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz became the latest writer to beryllium temporarily banned. She said she was suspended aft posting a connection connected Twitter tagging Musk and requesting an interview.

Sally Buzbee, The Washington Post’s enforcement editor, called it an “arbitrary suspension of different Post journalist” that further undermined Musk’s committedness to tally Twitter arsenic a level dedicated to escaped speech.

“Again, the suspension occurred with nary warning, process oregon mentation — this clip arsenic our newsman simply sought remark from Musk for a story,” Buzbee said. By midday Sunday, Lorenz’s relationship was restored, arsenic was the tweet she thought had triggered her suspension.

Musk’s committedness to fto users determine his aboriginal relation astatine Twitter done an unscientific online survey appeared to travel retired of obscurity Sunday, though helium had besides promised successful November that a reorganization was happening soon.

Musk was questioned successful tribunal connected Nov. 16 astir however helium splits his clip among Tesla and his different companies, including SpaceX and Twitter. Musk had to attest successful Delaware’s Court of Chancery implicit a shareholder’s situation to Musk’s perchance $55 cardinal compensation program arsenic CEO of the electrical car company.

Musk said helium ne'er intended to beryllium CEO of Tesla, and that helium didn’t privation to beryllium main enforcement of immoderate different companies either, preferring to spot himself arsenic an technologist instead. Musk besides said helium expected an organizational restructuring of Twitter to beryllium completed successful the adjacent week oregon so. It’s been much than a period since helium said that.

In nationalist banter with Twitter followers Sunday, Musk expressed pessimism astir the prospects for a caller CEO, saying that idiosyncratic “must similar symptom a lot” to tally a institution that “has been successful the accelerated lane to bankruptcy.”

“No 1 wants the occupation who tin really support Twitter alive. There is nary successor,” Musk tweeted.

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AP writer Brian P. D. Hannon contributed to this report.