Elon Musk says Twitter will only let paying Blue subscribers vote in policy-related polls after users voted to oust him as CEO
Susan Walsh/AP
- Twitter users on Monday voted in a public poll to oust Elon Musk as the social media company's CEO.
- Following that, Musk said henceforth only paying Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to vote on policy-related matters.
- He was responding to a suggestion that only paid members should be allowed to vote in such polls.
Hours after a public poll on Twitter voted to oust Elon Musk as the CEO of the company, he said only paying subscribers — that's Twitter Blue members — will be able to vote on policy-related matters.
The Twitter CEO was responding to a Blue member's suggestion that only paying members should be allowed to vote in policy-related polls because "we actually have skin in the game."
"Twitter will make that change," Musk tweeted on Monday.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022
Twitter Blue is a paid subscription service that charges users for a blue checkmark next to their account names and offers early access to certain features. The program costs $8 a month for web users in the US and is one of Musk's strategy to monetize the platform — which he said was losing $4 million a day.
Over 10 million, or 57.5% of 17.5 million Twitter users who participated in the poll voted for Musk to step down as the CEO.
"Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll," Musk had tweeted on Sunday while posting the poll.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
Musk's roller-coaster leadership of Twitter
Since acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in late October, Musk has instituted sweeping changes at the company — including mass layoffs and reinstating the account of former President Donald Trump after taking a poll.
The last week has been especially tumultuous for Twitter users after a series of snap changes at the platform.
Last Wednesday, Twitter suspended accounts that tracked private jets — including Musk's own private plane — using publicly available information. Musk cited safety concerns behind the move.
On Friday, Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists, after Musk accused them of doxxing him. Some of the accounts have since been reinstated.
Twitter also announced last week users would no longer be able to promote their accounts on other social media platforms — although it has since removed the page that detailed the policy.
On Monday, the Twitter Safety team polled users on whether it should have a policy that prevents "the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms."
Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.