Musk is asking Twitter users if he should step down after outrage over his policies

SAN FRANCISCO — Notable Twitter users were suspended without warning or explanation, then suddenly reinstated.

new policy To prevent users from sharing links and usernames from other social platforms, then apparently scaled back.

And the Elon Muskthe new owner of Twitter, posted a set of messages to his 122m followers asking if he should step down as head of the social media service, while lamenting that no one else wanted the job.

It’s been another 48 hours of chaos on Twitter, which has been mired in turmoil since mr. musk Completed a $44 billion acquisition company in late October. His tenure has already been marked by mass layoffs, executive resignations and unpaid bills at the company. Advertisers have declined, competing services have swooped in, and so have many Twitter users Fear that the service will simply stop working.

But over the weekend, a series of actions appeared on the platform by the master. Musk’s seemingly random and volatile annoyed Twitter users to the point of anger escalating — then turning to disgust. The reaction became so severe that Mr. Musk’s staunchest supporters seemed to be turning tail.

Among the critics were technologists and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who had previously supported Mr. Musk, as Paul Graham, is Y Combinator’s startup accelerator founder and investor Balaji Srinivasan. the master. Musk’s latest Twitter action was “the last straw,” said the master. Graham tweeted on Sunday.

anger from even among mr. Musk’s team in Silicon Valley sparked what appears to be a crisis of confidence from the 51-year-old billionaire, who was photographed earlier today attending the World Cup final in Qatar with Jared Kushner.

“Should I step down as president of Twitter?” the master. Musk tweeted Sunday night after Twitter users continued to question his actions. By early evening in San Francisco, nearly six million users had answered and the 24-hour survey leaned toward “yes.”

the master. musk from Often wings In the big moments, he said he’ll stick to whatever Twitter users decide. He said no successor has been identified.

Twitter users are becoming increasingly angry at Mr. Musk property since the middle of last week.

Started last wednesday when twitter More than 25 accounts have been banned that tracked the locations of private jets – including mr. Musk – use of publicly available information. while mr. Musk had previously promised to allow the account, known as ElonJet, to stay online, and then said he considered the accounts, which also tracked the plans of oligarchs, government agencies and celebrities, a security risk.

the master. Musk justified his action by introducing Twitter’s new policy that bans accounts if they share someone else’s “live location”.

On Thursday, mr. Musk used this policy to block the Twitter account of Mastodon, the alternative social network, after it used its account to announce @ElonJet’s new presence on its platform. He also suspended the accounts of journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other outlets after they shared some links or screenshots of a Mastodon tweet promoting ElonJet. (One of the accounts suspended was that of Ryan Mac, a Times journalist and author of this article.)

The The suspension was lifted on Friday after mr. Musk asked his followers if they should reinstate the accounts and 59 percent of the participants said yes. But by then, the criticism had piled up.

“If Twitter owner Elon Musk really wants to advance a platform that allows freedom of expression for everyone, then it makes no sense to remove journalists from the platform,” CPJ chair Jodi Ginsberg said in a statement at the time.

Then late Saturday, Twitter suspended Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz’s account after she posted a message asking Mr. Musk for comment on an upcoming story. the master. Musk later said mrs. Lorenz was suspended for “before doing doxxing,” or the online sharing of non-public identifying information. Ms. Lorenz appears not to have disclosed personal information to anyone in the tweets that were visible on her timeline.

On Sunday, Twitter went even further. The company suddenly announced a new policy that says it will no longer allow accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon. the master. Musk said the change was made to prevent competitors’ “continuous advertising for free, which is absolutely ridiculous.”

The move proved very unpopular with users who are used to open social networks as messages and videos can be easily shared across platforms. The new policy also seemed to contradict Sayyed’s statements. Musk has pledged his commitment to an open web and giving people more transparency into company decisions.

the master. Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator who supported Mr. Musk tweeted that new rules banning the promotion of other competing platforms led him to “give up” on Twitter and told his followers to find him on Mastodon. Then Twitter suspended Mr. Graham account. (Mr. Musk later said Mr. Graham’s account will be restored.)

Other Silicon Valley tech experts and venture capitalists said they were “done” with Twitter and began exploring alternative services. Ben Mackenziea well-known cryptocurrency actor and skeptic, He said He was taking a break from Twitter, adding, “This site just isn’t as fun as it used to be.” Other users accused mr. Musk acts like a dictator.

the master. Musk began to back away. He modified the new policy so that only accounts whose main goal was to promote competitors would be suspended.

“From now on, there will be a vote on major political changes,” he wrote on Twitter. “My apologies. It won’t happen again.”

Moments later, Mr. Musk asked his followers if he should step down from his leadership role on Twitter. He then added, “No one wants the job that can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no heir.”