Edward Snowden, a National Security Agency whistleblower, has offered to take over as CEO of Twitter. The 39-year-old former NSA consultant tweeted today that he would accept the position for compensation in Bitcoin.
I take payment in Bitcoin. https://t.co/wW0Qa9NxWi
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 19, 2022
In response to Elon Musk‘s tweet declaring that the challenge is not finding a CEO but finding one who can keep Twitter alive, Snowden stated, “I take payment in Bitcoin.”
Snowden is a former intelligence contractor who rose to prominence in 2013 after leaking classified National Security Agency information. His disclosure revealed the vast scope of the United States government’s domestic and international communications surveillance.
On December 4, Musk polled users on whether the US government should pardon Snowden and Julian Assange, the co-founder of Wikileaks.
Both Assange and Snowden have been living in exile since leaking confidential and sensitive information that exposed alleged wrongdoings and surveillance by the US military and intelligence.
It all comes after Elon Musk faced backlash for recent Twitter policy changes. Twitter announced on Sunday that it would ban accounts that promote other accounts on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and emerging Twitter rival Mastodon, as well as Donald Trump’s Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post.
Following a backlash to the new policy, Musk launched a Twitter poll asking users if he should step down as CEO of the social media platform and vowed to honour the results.
Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
On Sunday night, the billionaire entrepreneur, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, asked his followers:
“Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.” Musk said, “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” he added later
With three hours to go, 14 million people had voted, with 57% in favour of him stepping down and 43% opposed.
It comes two days after Twitter suspended several journalists’ accounts, with the site displaying “account suspended” notices for them. The accounts were restored following a public outcry.
