Elon Musk says taking down accounts for posting links of rival Mastodon was ‘a mistake’

Elon Musk has admitted taking down accounts for posting links to rival Mastodon was “a mistake” as he looks for a replacement after announcing he is stepping down.

While speaking in a Twitter space organised by American hacker George Hotz on Wednesday, Mr Musk was questioned about the suspension of accounts, like that of venture capitalist Paul Graham, for posting links to Mastodon.

“Yeah, that one was a mistake,” Mr Musk said when asked about users getting banned for mentioning Mastodon.

“‘I agree, it was a mistake,” the Tesla billionaire again said after being told by a user that arguments could be made for suspending Kanye West and ElonJet but not Mr Graham.

He was then asked to clarify whether people can post links to Mastodon now.

“Yeah f***ing post Mastodon all goddamn day long, I don’t care,” he added.

Mr Graham, a long-time supporter of the Tesla founder, was suspended last week after posting a link to his Mastodon account.

The open-source social media network has seen a huge surge in new users in recent weeks since Mr Musk took control of Twitter.

The suspension followed after Mr Graham tweeted saying, “I give up” and “link to my new Mastodon profile” while sharing the reversed Twitter policy that prohibited users from linking to competing social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post and Nostr.

Mr Graham’s account was reinstated in less than 24 hours.

The new “Twitter Promotion of alternative social media platforms policy” was earlier rolled back in yet another U-turn of Mr Musk’s new changes.

Several users, including journalists critical of Mr Musk, have also faced suspensions in one of the several controversies Mr Musk has faced in a long-running saga since he took over Twitter.

“Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again,” the tech mogul later said in a tweet.

Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022

The Twitter chief also started a new poll with “yes” and “no” answers on Sunday asking if he should step down as CEO. When results of more than 17 million voters poured in, they were innumerably in favour of Mr Musk stepping down.

Mr Musk also said on Sunday that he would abide by the poll’s results.

On Tuesday, the SpaceX owner said he would step down as soon as he found “someone foolish enough to take the job!”

“After that, I will just run the software & servers teams,” he tweeted.