Against the backdrop of UK Riots, Lawmakers Target Elon Musk
Against the backdrop of the riots that shook the United Kingdom last week, members of the British House of Commons are seeking to summon American businessman and owner of the “X” platform, Elon Musk, to a questioning session regarding the role of the famous site as well as his “inciting” comments about violence. Labour MPs Chi Onuora and Dawn Butler, who are running to chair the science, innovation and technology committee, told Politico they will press Musk and other tech executives to answer questions about the role of social media platforms amid growing unrest in the UK.
Last week, violent protests erupted in cities and towns across Britain after three girls were killed in a knife attack at a children’s dance in the city of Southport, northwest England. Misleading information about the identity of the attacker spread online in the immediate aftermath.
Musk spent days arguing with British politicians over the riots after writing on Twitter that “civil war is inevitable” in the UK. The American billionaire has also come under fire for reactivating the account of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who co-founded the far-right English Defence League.
The two candidates for the committee said they would push for more transparency from X if their colleagues elected them to head the technology oversight body.
“The really important points here are the way platforms’ algorithms promote and amplify misinformation and the spread of racist hate, and how the platforms’ business models rely on that,” said Onora, who has held a series of leadership roles in the Labour Party.
Butler echoed this sentiment, adding that the committee should “ask all social media platform owners.”
The possibility of being summoned to the interrogation session raises the possibility of a major conflict between Musk and the British House of Commons. While the House has the power to request individuals, papers, and records, including those outside the UK, it remains to be seen whether Musk will comply.
Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was summoned by a House of Commons committee as part of an investigation launched in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach, but he refused to appear.