The social media platform X will reinstate the account of the US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a poll of the site's users backed his return, its owner, Elon Musk, has said.

"The people have spoken and so it shall be," Musk posted in reply to a poll on Saturday on whether to reinstate the Jones account. Close to 2m votes were cast by the time the poll closed, with about 70% voting in favour of Jones's return.

Reuters could not immediately verify whether the account was restored early on Sunday.

Since Musk's takeover of X, it has reinstated previously suspended accounts, including that of the former US president Donald Trump.