Elon Musk has been invited to give evidence to a UK parliamentary committee about his takeover of social media platform Twitter.
Julian Knight, a Conservative MP who chairs the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) Committee, has written to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO inviting him to “discuss the future of Twitter” in the UK Parliament.
Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s proposal of $54.20 per share in cash last week, after previously resisting the offer, paving the way for the businessman to embrace his vision for freedom of speech and expression within the law on the social media platform.
Musk, who is buying Twitter for $44 billion and taking it private, has said that he would like to rid the platform of bots and scams and make Twitter software available for public review.
In a letter dated April 29 but only released on Twitter on May 4, Knight said his committee was “interested in the developments” Musk has proposed.
He welcomed Musk’s plan to verify all users, saying it “echoes our calls on the UK government as part of proposed legislation, which we hope will restore the UK public’s trust in digital platforms.”
But he said the committee wants to know how Musk intends to fulfil the legal obligation to crack down on so-called online harms.
In another statement, Knight said the committee was keen to “learn more about how Mr. Musk will balance his clear commitment to free speech with new obligations to protect Twitter’s users from online harms.”
“Appearing before the committee will give Mr. Musk an ideal opportunity to set out his proposals for Twitter in more depth and we would look forward to welcoming him,” he said.
Musk has been outspoken about promoting free speech on Twitter. He has criticised the company for engaging in censorship and said online censorship shouldn’t go “beyond the law.”
But his stance could face problems should the UK enact the proposed Online Safety Bill.
The legislation—which was given an unopposed second reading by British MPs last month—would force Google, Twitter, Meta (formerly Facebook), and others, to abide by a code of conduct, overseen by media regulator Ofcom, and remove still-to-be-defined “legal, but harmful” content.
Firms that breach these proposed rules could face large fines or access blocking.
Conservative MP Damian Collins, chairman of the joint committee on the draft Online Safety Bill, has urged Musk to “clean up” Twitter and remove the “coordinated armies of bot accounts spreading disinformation and division.”
“What Elon Musk does next with Twitter is going to be really interesting,“ Geddes said. ”Where does free speech end and abuse begin?”
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