Twitter bans accounts that promote other social media and Musk retracts the decision

December 19, 2022

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Twitter bans accounts that promote other social media... and Musk retracts the decision Twitter said in a tweet that it would ban accounts that promote competing social networking sites, but it quickly retracted its decision and its director, Elon Musk, announced that any future decision would be submitted to a vote. Twitter announced Sunday that it would not allow its users to promote their accounts on other social media, including Facebook and Instagram, but it seemed as if Elon Musk, the new owner of the blue site, had retracted hours after this new policy. This sudden decision is the latest in a series of controversial changes imposed by Musk since his acquisition of Twitter in late October, prompting users to request browsing their posts on other sites. And it came to Musk to put his future in the company to a vote, as he tweeted: “Should I step down from my position as president of Twitter?”, Asking users to participate with a yes or no. He added: "I will abide by the results of this poll," and the voting process continues until the early hours of Monday morning. Earlier, Twitter announced in a statement that the company "will no longer allow free promotion to certain social media platforms." "At the Tweet level as well as the account, we will remove any free promotion of third party social media platforms that we have blocked, such as posting links (using URLs) on Twitter," the statement added. For example, users will be prohibited from posting "Follow me on Instagram" with the account link added. And Twitter indicated that the first time violators will face measures “ranging from demanding the deletion of a tweet and more, to temporarily closing the account or accounts.” He added, "Any subsequent violations will result in permanent suspension" of the account. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey questioned this new policy by posting a one-word tweet: "Why?" After suspending some prominent accounts under the new policy, such as the account of technology investor Paul Graham, Musk later clarified that this policy would be limited to "suspending accounts only when the primary purpose of this account is to promote competitors." "From now on it will be a vote on major policy changes. My apologies, this will not happen again," he wrote.

Twitter said in a tweet that it would ban accounts that promote competing social networking sites, but it quickly retracted its decision and its director, Elon Musk, announced that any future decision would be submitted to a vote.

Twitter announced Sunday that it would not allow its users to promote their accounts on other social media, including Facebook and Instagram, but it seemed as if Elon Musk, the new owner of the blue site, had retracted hours after this new policy.

This sudden decision is the latest in a series of controversial changes imposed by Musk since his acquisition of Twitter in late October, prompting users to request browsing their posts on other sites.

And it came to Musk to put his future in the company to a vote, as he tweeted: “Should I step down from my position as president of Twitter?”, Asking users to participate with a yes or no.

He added: "I will abide by the results of this poll," and the voting process continues until the early hours of Monday morning.

Earlier, Twitter announced in a statement that the company "will no longer allow free promotion to certain social media platforms."

"At the Tweet level as well as the account, we will remove any free promotion of third party social media platforms that we have blocked, such as posting links (using URLs) on Twitter," the statement added.

For example, users will be prohibited from posting "Follow me on Instagram" with the account link added.

And Twitter indicated that the first time violators will face measures “ranging from demanding the deletion of a tweet and more, to temporarily closing the account or accounts.”

He added, "Any subsequent violations will result in permanent suspension" of the account.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey questioned this new policy by posting a one-word tweet: "Why?"

After suspending some prominent accounts under the new policy, such as the account of technology investor Paul Graham, Musk later clarified that this policy would be limited to "suspending accounts only when the primary purpose of this account is to promote competitors."

"From now on it will be a vote on major policy changes. My apologies, this will not happen again," he wrote.