Twitter vote: majority in favor of Musk resignation

Elon Musk has let the public vote on Twitter on whether he should step down as head of the service. The result is clear: the majority has decided in favor of Musk’s resignation. It is unclear whether the latter will actually resign and what will happen next with Twitter.

More than 17.5 million votes

In total, more than 17.5 million Twitter profiles participated in the poll Musk launched. Among them, 57.5 percent voted for the resignation of the billionaire, who recently bought Twitter and took over the leadership role in the process. His management style had already met with criticism in other companies. Musk also made himself unpopular at Twitter: he dismissed a large part of the staff and largely cut back on content moderation in particular. At the same time, he unblocked Donald Trump’s profile and blocked the profiles of media professionals whose work he disliked. He also blocked the account of a person who shared the flight details of his private jet.

All of this led to continued criticism of Musk, who has taken on one of the most powerful tools for influencing public discourse by reigning over Twitter. The self-declared champion of free speech has changed the face of the short messaging service dramatically in a short period of time – most recently banning references to competitors, for example. As a result, general debates ignited about the power of private individuals in the public sphere, as well as specifically about possible measures to set limits to Musk’s goings-on.

What’s next for Twitter?

Whether Musk will actually resign is currently unclear. According to his own statements, the possible succession is not settled. This in turn also raises the question of what will happen to Twitter as a whole should Musk step down from his leadership position. As the majority owner of the service, he could continue to decisively influence business policy in any case despite a possible resignation.