Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of social media platform X, might be asked to speak in front of the UK Parliament regarding his platform’s alleged role in fueling the riots that swept through the country this summer.
Chi Onwurah, Chair of Parliament’s Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee, has said they plan to call Musk and other tech leaders to talk as part of a serious investigation into the spread of wrong and harmful information on social media.
“Mr. Musk is X’s top representative, and he has strong opinions about misinformation, communication, free speech, and society,” Onwurah said in an interview with Politico.
“Considering his new position as an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump and his expressed disappointment about not being invited to the UK’s recent investment summit, I hope he would be open to talking with the committee and sharing his views.”
The investigation, which started officially on Wednesday, aims to look into how false information affects social unrest in real life, as shown by the violent protests that happened across the UK last summer.
“The violence we saw on the streets of the UK this summer highlighted the harmful effects of spreading lies and damaging information on social media,” Onwurah said. “It’s important that we learn from these events to stop them from happening again and to protect public safety.”
This investigation comes at a time when the relationship between Musk and the British government is becoming more tense. During the protests, Musk publicly criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government for what he called an overly strict response to the unrest. In response, UK ministers called Musk’s comments “unacceptable” and “disgraceful.”
