Elon Musk set to QUIT as Twitter CEO after just six weeks - 'Careful what you wish for'

Elon Musk has vowed to abide by the results of a public poll asking users on Twitter if he should “step down” as head of the social media platform.

A 12-hour poll posted on Sunday night by Mr Musk attracted more than four million votes within an hour and said: “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll,” along with the options “Yes” or “No”.

The number of responses had increased to 17 million as of 10.30am with 57.5 per cent of votes in favour of Mr Musk stepping aside.

In a series of separate tweets, Mr Musk said there was “no successor” in line to take over if the poll returns a “Yes” result.

He wrote: “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.

“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.

“As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.”

Mr Musk previously announced a U-turn on a new policy which banned users from linking to rival social media websites, including Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.

The original announcement was the latest move by Mr Musk to crack down on certain speech after he shut down a Twitter account last week that was tracking the flights of his private jet.

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

He was also criticised last week for booting a series of journalists covering the billionaire off the platform.

The EU has threatened Mr Musk with sanctions after it was reported New York Times, CNN and Washington Post reporters were among those locked out of their accounts.

European Commissioner Vera Jourova said that the suspensions were “worrying” and that EU law protects media freedom.

Many of those accounts were later restored following an online poll by Mr Musk.