U.K. Lawmakers Request Elon Musk Give Evidence Over Twitter Deal

(Bloomberg) -- British lawmakers wrote to Elon Musk asking the billionaire to address concerns over his view on free speech, following the Tesla Inc.'s chief's proposed acquisition of Twitter Inc.

“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,” Conservative party lawmaker Julian Knight wrote in a statement published Wednesday.

The request from the influential Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee comes as questions remain over how Musk will run Twitter following his $44 billion deal to take the social media company private.

“I want to make it as inclusive and interesting and entertaining as possible, and broaden the audience,” Musk said on Monday, at a benefit for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Requests to give evidence to a U.K. parliamentary select committee are neither legally binding nor mandatory, but companies routinely answer the calls and provide executives to speak. Evidence gathered is used by committee members to write reports, which are passed to the government to inform lawmaking and legislative changes.

Sometimes requests are repeatedly refused, however, notably in the case of Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. The social-networking giant declined to send the CEO to appear before an earlier incarnation of the committee, following threats of a formal summons.

The U.K. is currently introducing long-awaited and sweeping legal proposals to force internet companies to remove illegal content from their platforms, giving regulator Ofcom power to impose massive fines and prosecute executives personally for failures to comply.