The UK Parliament has summoned Elon Musk to give a testimony about his $44 billion Twitter acquisition. UK lawmakers want Elon Musk to detail his vision for the micro-blogging platform. The request was made public early on Wednesday by MP Julian Knight, who chairs the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
The invitation comes as British MPs review “online safety” legislation that would give regulators sweeping powers to clamp down on social media and other internet platforms.
“At a time when social media companies face the prospect of tighter regulations around the world, we’re keen to learn more about how Mr Musk will balance his clear commitment to free speech with new obligations to protect Twitter’s users from online harms,” Knight said in a statement on Wednesday. In the U.K., the government is keen to push through new laws that would impose a duty of care on online platforms to tackle harmful and illegal content.
Known as the Online Safety Bill, the legislation would allow the media watchdog Ofcom to levy fines of up to 10% of a company’s global annual revenue for violations. Tech executives also face possible jail time for repeated failure to cooperate with regulators. Elon Musk told AP that while he is “honored” by the invitation, “it would be premature at this time to accept” given that Twitter’s shareholders have not yet voted to approve the multi-billion-dollar deal.
Recently, Twitter announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Musk for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at nearly $44billion.Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately-held company.