Twitter users are getting to know the Elon Musk version of governance. A vast majority of voters in a poll launched by the new boss and owner of Twitter said they were in favor of reinstating the platform’s suspended accounts.
72.4% of the approximately 3.16 million people who voted answered “yes” to Elon Musk’s question, who asked if Twitter should offer a “blanket amnesty to suspended accounts provided they do not have not broken the law or sent outrageous spam”. The leader did not immediately react on Thursday after the results of his survey.
He had already consulted Twitter users to decide whether Donald Trump could return to the platform. The former American president had been banned from the social network after the assault on the Capitol in Washington in January 2021 due to the risk of violence. The billionaire’s account was restored after a narrow majority (51.8%) of the 15 million voters voted in favor of a return of the former White House tenant.
Elon Musk’s use of polls to define certain directions for Twitter goes against a commitment expressed shortly after the company was taken over. The boss of Tesla had indeed announced the imminent formation of a “council of moderation with very diverse points of view. “No major decision on the contents or the reinstatement of accounts will be taken before the meeting of this council,” he had promised.
But the richest man on the planet has reneged on that promise, accusing “social and political activists” of seeking to “kill Twitter” by drying up its advertising revenue, which accounts for 90% of the company’s revenue, which amounted, according to the stormy entrepreneur, to a breach of the agreement to establish a council of elders.
Several major brands, including Volkswagen, General Motors and General Mills, have announced that they have suspended advertising spending on Twitter since its acquisition by Elon Musk.