Donald Trump could return to Twitter after its new owner Elon Musk asked users to vote on lifting the ex-US president’s ban.
Mr Musk, a “free speech absolutist”, posed the question in a Twitter poll posted yesterday. Any signed-up user can click buttons to vote “yes” or “no” to reinstating Mr Trump.
He added the message “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” using the Latin for “the voice of the people is the voice of God” – a phrase associated with advocates of direct democracy.
Last night, of 12 million votes cast around 53% said yes and 47% voted no.
Mr Musk is the richest man in the world with a £165billion fortune after founding Paypal and Tesla. He bought Twitter last month for £37bn.
He said last night more than a million people an hour were voting on the Trump issue, with the poll set to run until the early hours today. Mr Trump was given a permanent suspension from Twitter by its founder Jack Dorsey in 2020 after he was accused of using it to incite a violent mob to storm the US Capitol, leading to five deaths and hundreds of injuries.
It is not clear if Mr Musk will abide by the result of the poll. He said on Friday that a final decision on Mr Trump’s account was yet to be made.
