UK Parliament asks Elon Musk to testify on Twitter

A British parliamentary committee scrutinising draft online safety legislation has invited Elon Musk to discuss his plans to buy Twitter and the changes hes proposing for the social media platform.

Parliaments digital committee asked the Tesla CEO on Wednesday to give evidence about his proposals in more depth.

Musk said its too early to give an answer.

I am honoured and thank the Parliament for their invitation, but it would be premature at this time to accept, given that there has not yet been a shareholder vote” to approve the deal, he said by email.

The committee said its interested in Musks plans, especially his intention to roll out verification for all users, which echoes its own recommendations to the UK government.

Musk has said he wants Twitter to authenticate all humans, an ambiguous proposal that could be related to his desire to rid the website of automated spam accounts.

The UK governments online safety bill, which is being examined by lawmakers in Parliament, would give regulators wide-ranging powers to crack down on digital and social media companies.

Among the bills measures aimed at combating online abuse is a requirement for the biggest platforms to give users the option to verify their identity and the choice not to interact with unverified users.

At a time when social media companies face the prospect of tighter regulations around the world, were keen to learn more about how Mr Musk will balance his clear commitment to free speech with new obligations to protect Twitters users from online harms, committee chair Julian Knight said.

Its not the first time the committee has invited a tech boss to testify. In 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg declined an invitation to answer questions as part of its investigation into fake news.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)