The UK Parliament is thinking about calling Elon Musk to speak about his social media platform, X. He may soon be in the hot seat. Dawn Butler, a Labour MP who is running for chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, wants to talk to Musk about how X works.
Concerns have been raised about how computers might spread false information and hate speech on X because of Butler’s plan. She thinks it’s very important for the committee to look closely at how these algorithms work and how the site moderates material.
Chi Onwurah, a fellow Labour MP who is also running for chair of the committee, backs this investigation. Butler and Onwurah are both pushing for social media companies to be more open about how their algorithms and business models work, which they say often spread false information and racial hate.
The move is in reaction to recent trouble in the UK, where riots were caused by false information about X after a terrible knife attack in Southport. Musk has said bad things about how the UK government is treating the situation, and the fact that his platform helps spread false information has caused a lot of trouble.
In addition, X is having legal problems in Brazil, where the Supreme Court has shut down the site because it doesn’t follow local rules. The court’s ruling came after X was accused of sharing false information about former President Jair Bolsonaro. The platform will have to pay big fines to start doing business again in Brazil.
As the UK election draws near, lawmakers are paying more attention to X and how it affects public debate as they try to figure out how to deal with the problems that strong social media platforms cause.
