Twitter: what happens if Musk steps down?

After several weeks of turbulence at Twitter, Elon Musk has held out the prospect of resigning as the online service's CEO. He would step down as soon as he found someone "stupid enough" to take the job, he declared in a tweet, after Twitter users voted by 57.5 percent in favour of his resignation in a poll. Commentators debate the consequences.

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Wiener Zeitung (AT) /

A very uncertain future

Twitter's competitors can rejoice, writes the Wiener Zeitung:

“Sunday saw the next strange twist in the Twitter farce: Musk held an online survey on whether he should step down as Twitter CEO. More than 17 million users cast their votes and delivered a clear result: 57.5 percent took the view that the second richest person in the world should resign as Twitter's boss. ... Even if Musk were to give up as head of Twitter, the future of the platform is highly uncertain. In any case, the damage is already enormous. See you on Twitter alternative Mastodon.”

taz, die tageszeitung (DE) /

Platform remains irreplaceable

Many who use Twitter as an information platform have no choice but to stay, the taz points out:

“Activists in Iran, local forces in Afghanistan or Kurdish protesters are running out of time to build up their contacts on other platforms. In addition, their addressees - including ministries, NGOs and other activists - would not necessarily be on the same platform internationally. It's a dilemma. Stay and put up with the situation or delete your Twitter profile and start again? For many, Twitter is too vital for them to ask this question.”

The Guardian (GB) /

Destruction behind closed doors instead

Musk will continue to control the company's destiny, The Guardian is sure:

“The past six weeks has solidified Musk as Twitter's worst character. It feels fitting that the end of his tenure would come with a giant poll of his own making asking people to say whether they liked him or not. But even if he isn't in the CEO role, Musk will remain Twitter's owner after he steps down, with a new chief executive of his choosing. The only difference may be a Twitter now being destroyed behind closed doors, rather than one whose destruction is live-tweeted, out in the open.”