By Elon Musk $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Even that hasn’t been finalized yet, but UK MPs have invited him to discuss the changes he wants to make to the site. MPs from the UK House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee (DCMS) told Musk in a letter (PDF) that they were particularly interested in hearing about his intention to implement verification for all users. They say it echoes their calls for the government as part of the proposed legislation.
Committee Chairman Julian Knight also wrote:
“Our 2020 Report on Disinformation in the Covid ‘Infodemic’ called for more transparency towards bots and automated and spam accounts, while our recent Report on the Bill UK Online Safety discussed ways to balance civil liberties like free speech with the need to tackle rampant online crime, exploitation and child sexual abuse.”
That suggests that MPs are looking to discuss the balance between free speech and censorship on the platform, and how Musk plans to tackle it. Former multi-company executive describe yourself as a “free speech expert,” and it remains to be seen whether and how that changes Twitter’s censorship practices.
Twitter under Musk can start charging users to embed tweets from verified accounts, according to a report from Reuters. He is also said to have proposed changes to Twitter Blue, the site’s subscription service, to make it more appealing to paying users. Additionally, he is said to have floated the idea of job cuts during negotiations with banks to secure financing for his acquisition. More recently, he tweeted that the site would remain free for normal users, but it could start charging commercial organizations and government agencies.
Twitter will always be free for normal users, but there may be a slight charge for commercial/government users
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022
However, the MPs’ letter is an invitation only, and Musk is not legally required to attend. Their committee has a history of summoning CEOs who didn’t show up, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying to get executives to speak. Director Meta Mark Zuckerberg, for example, formerly denied their request and appoint only one representative to appear before the committee.
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