'Should Edward Snowden, Julian Assange Be Pardoned?' Elon Musk Pushes New Poll As Promised

Assange and Snowden are living in exile after both leaked confidential and sensitive information divulging alleged wrongdoings and surveillance by the US military and intelligence.

Musk had also proposed a poll asking users whether the platform should offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts.

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Twitter chief Elon Musk on Sunday pushed a new poll asking users whether whistleblower Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange should be pardoned by the US government.

"I am not expressing an opinion, but did promise to conduct this poll. Should Assange and Snowden be pardoned?" Musk tweeted.

I am not expressing an opinion, but did promise to conduct this poll.

Should Assange and Snowden be pardoned?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2022

In an hour, the poll received more than 5,60,000 votes with most users voting in the affirmative. Around 80 per cent subscribers voted yes to pardoning the two whistleblowers.

Assange and Snowden are living in exile after both leaked confidential and sensitive information divulging alleged wrongdoings and surveillance by the US military and intelligence.

Assange is at present trying to block his extradition process from London to the US while Snowden has been given Russian citizenship in September by Vladimir Putin. The former US intelligence whistleblower received a Russian passport last week after swearing an oath of allegiance to Russia, reported The Guardian. Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the news agency TASS, "Yes, he got [a passport], he took the oath." 

While White House's official John Kirby said, "This is still a criminal investigative matter."

In a span of one month since Musk, a self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist," who has taken over the platform has been frequently publishing similar polls. Starting from feedback on revised Twitter rules to reinstating previously blocked accounts, Musk has been using these polls for major decisions about the social media website.

Musk had also proposed a poll asking users whether the platform should offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts. Former United States President Donald Trump's Twitter account "reappeared" on the microblogging site after Musk conducted a similar poll wherein votes in favour of revoking the ban won by a margin of 4 per cent.

Musk reinstated several accounts that were previously subject to indefinite bans for breaking the platform's rules. Author Jordan Peterson and comedian Kathy Griffin are among the first ones whose accounts were reinstated.

After responses from over 3.1 million users, Musk declared that "amnesty" would begin in a week. "The people have spoken. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," he said using a Latin adage meaning "The voice of the people is the voice of God."