What other topics does the UK House of Commons DCMS Committee hope to discuss with Elon Musk?
The topics of the two reports in question are fairly straightforward. The first pertains directly to user verification, which is something Elon Musk has previously said he’d like to implement at Twitter. The Report on Misinformation in the Covid ‘Infodemic’ called for increased transparency. And that’s explicitly related to transparency about bots, automated accounts, and spam accounts. Verifying the real users could potentially address those concerns. Although the process would still likely require some tweaking, given previous attempts to use verified users in scams. The second issue, discussed in the country’s Online Safety Bill, centers around balancing civil liberties such as freedom of expression with enforcement. In the case of the bill, that’s enforcement against “pernicious, pervasive online child sexual exploitation and abuse.”
Will the new Twitter CEO travel for this discussion?
Historically, invitations to CEOs and other prominent figures have been sent by the committee with some frequency. But typically, they ignore or decline those invitations. The invitation is effectively non-binding. So Elon Musk may or may not decide to travel to the UK to discuss his plans for Twitter. In the interim, the acquisition of Twitter is also still not finalized. So although Mr. Musk may choose to discuss his plans for the platform, no one knows if any of those plans would come to fruition.
