Musks poll on stepping down as Twitter chief leans toward Yes

NEW YORK Twitter chief Elon Musk, under fire for recent policy changes., is asking users whether he should step down as head of the social media site.

With several hours left, and 12 million votes cast, 56 per cent of participants has said yes. The billionaire owner of Twitter and chief executive officer of Tesla will abide by the results of the poll, he pledged in a tweet Sunday. Three of the top trending topics in the US overnight were about the platform itself, including VOTE YES and CEO of Twitter.

Mr Musk was in Qatar to watch the World Cup final match between Argentina and France and tweeted out his poll after the games conclusion. He also pledged to implement a vote for any major policy changes in the future, apologising for not having done so before.

Following his takeover of Twitter, Mr Musk has weathered criticism for his sweeping changes at the social network such as firing more than half its staff and bringing back previously barred accounts as well as calls to refocus on Tesla, whose share price has been plummeting.

Since reluctantly completing the Twitter acquisition at the end of October, he has spent much of his time on the social service.

He was posting late into the night on Thursday after tangling with journalists, Twitters most engaged and active contributors.

The company banned a number of them from major publications like the Washington Post and CNN, alleging they were doxxing his location.

The move incurred condemnation from the likes of the American Civil Liberties Union and even the United Nations, who called it a dangerous precedent.

Over the weekend, Twitter also announced and withdrew a policy change whereby it would bar accounts created solely to promote competing social networks.

That decision led to the suspension of at least one prominent account, prompting Mr Musk to say hell adjust the policy mere hours after its introduction.

The Twitter Safety account later offered a poll on whether it should have the policy on removing accounts promoting other social media platforms. BLOOMBERG More On This Topic The last straw: Elon Musks volatility is alienating Twitters top content creators Twitter to ban users from posting links to rival social platforms, Musk asks if he should step down