Twitter unveiled a shake-up to only allow verified users to participate in polls hosted on the social media platform, a move made around three months after a vote called for Elon Musk to step down as CEO.

In a shake-up to the paid-for Twitter Blue feature, new policies which come into force from 15 April will mean only verified subscribers will have their posts recommended to other users, in addition to being allowed to vote in polls.

Posts from non-paying accounts will not be included in Twitter’s for you-branded stream.

Musk introduced the Twitter Blue feature shortly after securing a takeover of the social media company. It costs $7 a month and gives users blue-tick verification, in addition to other features including making tweets more visible on feeds.

He stated the change was the only way “to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle”.

Musk opened a poll on his own account asking users if he should step down in December 2022.

Around 57.5 per cent of a total 17.5 million users voted for Musk to leave and he later stated he would follow through as soon as he could find “someone foolish enough to take the job”.