Twitter introduced Sunday it might not enable customers to advertise their accounts on a number of rival social media platforms together with Facebook and Instagram, however the web site’s mercurial proprietor Elon Musk appeared to backtrack on the brand new coverage simply hours later. The sudden shift within the guidelines was the most recent in a sequence of controversial modifications made by Musk since he took over the corporate in October — upheaval that has led a rising variety of customers to encourage followers to view their posts on different websites.

The unpredictable billionaire even put his future as Twitter’s CEO to a vote. “Should I step down as head of Twitter?” he tweeted, asking the location’s customers to click on sure or no. “I will abide by the results of this poll,” he added, with the vote open till the early hours of Monday.

Twitter had introduced that the corporate would “no longer allow free promotion of specific social media platforms.”

“At both the Tweet level and the account level, we will remove any free promotion of prohibited third-party social media platforms, such as linking out (i.e. using URLs) to any of the below platforms on Twitter, or providing your handle without a URL,” the corporate defined in an announcement.

Users would thus be barred, for instance, from posting “Follow me @username on Instagram,” Twitter mentioned.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey questioned the brand new coverage with a one-word tweet: “Why?”

Meanwhile, software program engineer and Wikipedia editor Molly White identified that Twitter had eliminated its coverage web page on sharing hyperlinks to third-party platforms on the microblogging service, together with tweets from its assist deal with asserting the coverage change.

After some notable accounts had been suspended underneath the brand new coverage, together with tech investor Paul Graham, Musk tweeted that as a substitute of contemplating particular person tweets, the coverage can be restricted to “suspending accounts only when that account’s primary purpose is promotion of competitors.”

He later mentioned: “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.”

Twitter Support has additionally posted a ballot that asks customers whether or not the service ought to have a coverage “preventing the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms”.

​Changes underneath Musk

The transfer was the most recent in a rising sequence of controversies generated by Musk in his quick tenure on the helm of Twitter, together with layoffs, reinstatement of some far-right accounts and the suspension of a number of journalists.

Shortly after taking on the platform, he introduced the location would cost $8 (roughly Rs. 660) per 30 days to confirm account holders’ identities, however needed to droop the “Twitter Blue” plan after an embarrassing rash of pretend accounts. It has since been relaunched.

On November 4, with Musk saying the corporate was dropping $4 million (roughly Rs. 33 crore) a day, Twitter laid off half its 7,500-strong workers.

Musk additionally reinstated the account of former president Donald Trump and mentioned Twitter would not work to fight Covid-19 disinformation.

In current days, he suspended the accounts of a number of journalists — most just lately, Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz — after complaining some had divulged particulars concerning the actions of his non-public jet that might endanger his household.

The suspension of the journalists — staff of CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post had been amongst these affected — has drawn sharp criticism, together with from the European Union and the United Nations.

The US Federal Trade Commission mentioned it was monitoring developments at Twitter “with deep concern.”

Washington Post government editor Sally Buzbee mentioned the suspension of Lorenz’s account “further undermines Elon Musk’s claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech.”

Some of the suspended accounts have since been reactivated.