Twitter owner says user vote will decide whether to resign

MATT O’BRIEN, AP Technology Writer

Elon Musk asks Twitter users whether or not to remain in charge of the social media platform after admitting he made a mistake Sunday when he launched new speech restrictions that ban mentions of rival social media websites. I am asking you to determine

In yet another sweeping policy change, Twitter has announced that users will no longer be able to link to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and other platforms the company describes as “prohibited.”

But the move quickly sparked so much criticism, including from past defenders of Twitter’s new billionaire owner, that Musk won’t make any more major policy changes without an online survey of its users. I promised.

“I apologize. It will never happen again. “I will follow the results of this vote.”

The move to block competitors was Musk’s latest attempt to crack down on certain comments after he shut down a Twitter account last week that tracked private jet flights.

Banned platforms included mainstream websites such as Facebook and Instagram, emerging rivals Mastodon, Tribel, Nostr, Post, and former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Twitter has not explained why the blacklist included these seven of his websites and not others such as Parler, TikTok and LinkedIn.

Twitter had said it would at least temporarily suspend accounts with banned websites in their profiles, a practice so widespread that it was restricted to millions of Twitter users around the world. Not just the links, but attempts to circumvent the ban by spelling “instagram dot com” may have led to the suspension, the company said.

The test case is prominent venture capitalist Paul Graham, who has praised Musk in the past, but on Sunday told his 1.5 million Twitter followers that this was the “final straw” and that they should find him on Mastodon. His Twitter account was immediately suspended and quickly reinstated as Musk promised to back down on policies he had put in place hours earlier.

Musk said Twitter will continue to suspend some accounts according to policy, but “only if the account’s (asterisk) primary (asterisk) purpose is to promote a competitor.”

Twitter took steps last week to block links to Mastodon after its main Twitter account tweeted about the @ElonJet controversy. Mastodon has complained about Musk’s overhaul of Twitter since Musk bought the company for his $44 billion in late October and began restoring accounts that violated previous Twitter leadership’s rules against hateful conduct and more. As an alternative to Twitter users who have, it has grown rapidly in recent weeks. harm.

After Musk permanently banned the @ElonJet account on Wednesday, he changed Twitter’s rules to ban sharing someone else’s location without their consent. He then took aim at a journalist who was writing about the jet tracking account. The account can also be seen on other social his media sites, but they claimed to be broadcasting “basically the coordinates of the assassination.”

He took advantage of it to create accounts for numerous journalists covering social media platforms and masks, including reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America, and other publications. Many of those accounts have been restored following an online investigation by Musk.

Then over the weekend, The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz became the latest journalist to be temporarily banned. She said she was suspended after posting a message on Twitter that tagged Mask and requested an interview.

Washington Post executive editor Sally Busby called it “the arbitrary suspension of another post-journalist,” furthering Musk’s promise to operate Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech. weakened.

“Again, the suspension occurred with no warning, process or explanation, this time because the reporter simply asked for comment from Musk. So did the tweets she thought triggered the suspension.

Musk’s promise to let users determine their future roles on Twitter through an unscientific online survey seemed to pop up on Sunday, but in November it also promised an upcoming reorganization. .

Musk was questioned in court on November 16 about how he divides his time between Tesla and his other companies, including SpaceX and Twitter. Musk had to testify in Delaware’s Supreme Court against shareholder challenges to Musk’s potential $55 billion compensation plan as his CEO of an electric car company.

Musk said he never intended to be Tesla’s CEO, nor did he want to be CEO of any other company, preferring instead to see himself as an engineer. He said he expects the restructuring to be completed in the next week or so. It’s been over a month since you said that.

In a public joke with his Twitter followers on Sunday, Musk took a pessimistic view of the new CEO’s prospects, saying that he would “like a lot of pain” to run a company “in the fast lane to bankruptcy.” It must be,” he said.

“Nobody wants a job that can actually keep Twitter alive. No successor,” Musk tweeted.

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AP writer Brian PD Hannon contributed to this report.