Elon Musk summoned to Commons showdown: Billionaire faces grilling on ‘pervasive’ culture

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The entrepreneur, who recently bought the social media platform for £34.5billion, has been asked to face the digital, culture, media and sport committee (DCMS) to answer questions on free speech.

The richest man in the world vowed to improve the free speech principles of the site when he made the purchase last month.

He is thought to be considering re-installing banned accounts en masse, cracking down on Russian bots, and introducing an edit button for tweets.

Chair of the parliamentary committee, Julian Knight, said Mr Musk’s appearance would be a chance to find out more about the businessman’s plans.

He said: “At a time when social media companies face the prospect of tighter regulations around the world, we’re 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.”

In his letter inviting Mr Musk to appear before the committee, Mr Knight said that the committee was looking at “ways to balance civil liberties like freedom of expression with the need to tackle pernicious, pervasive online child sexual exploitation and abuse”.

While not legally required to appear before the committee, those asked to give evidence are expected to attend.

Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg previously sparked outrage after refusing to appear before the DCMS committee.

He was threatened with “contempt of parliament” – a charge that carries no penalty – for not attending.

More to follow…

Source: Read Full Article