Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has started a Twitter poll, asking users if they want an edit button. “Do you want an edit button?” tweeted Musk, who has revealed a 9.2 per cent stake in the micro-blogging site, making him its largest shareholder.
The most prominent among the numerous responses to the poll was Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s. “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,” he tweeted.
Musk revealed his stake in Twitter shortly after his tweet questioning Twitter’s commitment to free speech and asking the users if a new platform was needed.
“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?,” he tweeted.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?” Musk said, adding, “Is a new platform needed?”
A prolific Twitter user, Musk has over 80 million followers since he joined the site in 2009 and has used the platform to make several announcements.
A regulatory filing showed that Musk owns 73.5 million Twitter shares through Elon Musk Revocable Trust, of which he is the sole trustee.
Of late, however, he has been critical of the social media platform and its policies, saying the company is undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free-speech principles.
The buzz over an edit button on Twitter – a long pending demand of users – was rekindled on April 1 when the platform tweeted that it was working on an edit button.
While many users welcomed the announcement, others wondered if it was an April Fools Day joke.
Earlier, Twitter has teased users about using an edit button. In 2020, it had announced that it would introduce the feature when everyone started wearing a mask amid the Covid pandemic. “You can have an edit button when everyone wears a mask,” Twitter had announced.
