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'Should I step down as head of Twitter?' Musk opens new poll

The CEO promised to abide by the results of this poll

Elon Musk Twitter new CEO Elon Musk

Elon Musk, the new owner of the microblogging site Twitter, has launched a poll on Twitter asking the users whether or not he should step down as the head of the company. 

"Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll," tweeted Musk. 

The CEO also acknowledged that he made a mistake by restricting mentions of rival social media platforms on Twitter, stating: "Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again."

This came as Musk announced a new policy on Twitter wherein the users will no longer be able to link to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and other platforms the company described as "prohibited." While Facebook and Instagram, and upstart rivals Mastodon, Tribel, Nostr, Post and former President Donald Trump's Truth Social were banned, Parler, TikTok and LinkedIn were not. Twitter and Musk did not explain why these websites were banned or the criteria for "prohibition."

However, the move faced widespread backlash with many, including Musk's long-time supporters, rallying against the latest change, forcing the entrepreneur to launch the poll.

The 12-hour poll was launched around 1120GMT on Monday but Musk made no mention of when he would step down if the majority of users wanted him out. Interestingly, he later replied to another user who claimed Musk has "a new CEO picked out."

"Elon will retire to being Chairman of the Board and Tweeter," said the handle @WallStreetSilv. To this Elon replied, "No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor."

Musk, who brought in a slew of policy changes once he took over, had recently banned an account which tracked his private plane for 'doxxing.' Twitter had also banned the accounts of over eight journalists, including those in The Washington Post and The New York Times but reinstated them after a poll result favoured their restoration.

Twitter had stated that it would ban promotions of third-party social media link aggregators such as Linktree. The platform also banned its users including links to their new Mastodon profile, encouraging users to find them there. Many, though, tried to bypass such restrictions like spelling out "instagram dot com" and a username instead of a direct website link.

However, Twitter said it will still allow "paid advertisement/promotion" from the otherwise banned platforms, as well as "cross-posting" some content originating from the banned sites. 

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