Move risks escalating a growing war of words between the Musk and the Labour government.
LONDON — Tech billionaire Elon Musk could soon be hauled before the U.K. parliament to answer for his platform X’s part in stoking the riots that tore through the country this summer.
Chi Onwurah, chair of parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, told POLITICO she wanted Musk — picked for a top job in Donald Trump’s incoming U.S. government — and other tech executives to explain the role of social media in spreading false and harmful content as part of a new inquiry it launched on Wednesday.
“Mr. Musk is the most senior representative of X and one moreover who we know has very strong views on misinformation, communication, free speech and society,” Onwurah said.
“I would very much hope he would want to share the thinking behind those views with the committee, especially given his role as advisor to President-elect Trump and the disappointment he expressed on not being invited to the U.K. investment summit.”
POLITICO first reported Onwurah’s plans to summon Musk before the committee in August. Wednesday marks the formal launch of its inquiry into social media’s role in the riots.
“The violence we saw on U.K. streets this summer has shown the dangerous real-world impact of spreading misinformation and disinformation across social media,” Onwurah said.
“We shouldn’t accept the spread of false and harmful content as part and parcel of using social media. It’s vital that lessons are learnt, and we ensure it doesn’t fuel riots and violence on our streets again.”
The move comes amid an increasingly tense relationship between the tech billionaire and the British government. As riots spread in the summer, Musk repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government over what he saw as a draconian approach to the unrest.
In turn, U.K. ministers decried the entrepreneur’s comments as “totally unjustifiable” and “pretty deplorable.”
Musk subsequently failed to receive an invite to a major investment summit hosted by the Labour government last month — a decision which prompted more insults from the entrepreneur.
Since then, Musk has become a close adviser to the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, giving him huge influence over the incoming administration of one of the U.K.’s closest allies. Musk is set to co-lead a government advisory body on efficiency.
British ministers have recently backtracked on their more adversarial stance. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle played down Musk’s summit absence and stressed that he was “absolutely ready to engage” with the entrepreneur.
Peter Mandelson, widely tipped to become the U.K.’s next ambassador to Washington, told the News Agents podcast the government “should make it our business to connect” with Musk after the falling out.
However, one person close to Musk said he would be unlikely to forget the U.K.’s slight easily.