Elon Musk vs Twitter, Round Two: Tesla chief's new poll comes with a heavy question on free speech — and serious consequences

Tesla boss Elon Musk, who is quite vocal on Twitter, started a poll on the microblogging site on Friday, asking his over 79 million followers their opinions on free speech and social media.

Musk asked his followers if they believe Twitter "rigorously" adheres to the principle of free speech being essential to a functioning democracy.

"Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?" Musk asked on Twitter, with options of yes or no.



The 50-year-old warned his fans to think carefully before answering as the “consequences of this poll” would be important.

So far, the poll has received over 19 lakh votes and 117.6K likes.

This is the second time in two days that the billionaire has aimed his guns at Twitter. Earlier this week, Musk had asked his fans if Twitter algorithm should be an open source.

What open-source algorithms means is that users would be able to see the format or digital structure followed by Twitter in deciding what it wants to show them on their microblogging feed.

In a reply to Musk's tweet, the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, who stepped down as the CEO of the microblogging site in November 2021, said that the "choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone."


It's no secret that Musk isn't a fan of social media, especially the microblogging platform, and has often used Twitter to rant about Twitter. Let's see what comes next after Musk's poll move.