Elon Musk could be summoned for a grilling by British MPs over X’s role in race riots that have rocked the U.K. over the last week, as well as his own incendiary comments about the violence.

Labour MPs Chi Onwurah and Dawn Butler, who are competing to chair parliament’s science, innovation and technology committee, both told POLITICO they’d press the billionaire X owner and other technology executives to answer questions about the role of social media platforms amid mounting unrest in the U.K.

Musk has spent days beefing with British politicians over the riots, and is locked in a war of words with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the U.K’s handling of them. Musk on Sunday wrote “civil war is inevitable” in the U.K. and claimed that the response by U.K. police has been “one-sided."

…

Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) saw misinformation about the identity of the attacker — wrongly identified as an asylum seeker who had just arrived in the U.K. — spread widely in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The X boss has also come under fire for re-instating the account of high-profile far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who co-founded the English Defense League.

  • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
    21·
    4 months ago

    But that is the point. Companies do not need to do business in the UK.

    Swift payment systems make it so easy now that the payer can never be entirly sure where their money goes.

    This is how so many big corps are avoiding taxation legally now.

    • HelloThere@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      4·
      4 months ago

      Given the idiots who are paying for checkmarks, and VAT collection, twitter has a UK subdivision (Twitter UK), which regardless of size of operation gives UK Gov jurisdiction.

      If someone is compelled to speak to the Commons, it’s very very rare that they refuse because if you do - and your host country is an ally - you’ll have your government on your back too.

      • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
        21·
        4 months ago

        Yep. But they can and will close it if the parliament annoys them. And already avoid taxes by claiming money is not received in the UK. Just like facebook, amazon, google etc. This is way the ASA has little ability to control online advertising.

        As for foreign citizens called to parliament. You clearly forgot what happened last time when Zuckerberg just refused. Our allies are really only so when it benefits them.

        • HelloThere@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          4 months ago

          The difference with Zuckerberg is that there was a change in government shortly after. The people who benefited from Facebook’s cosy relationship became the government, and Trump was president.

          My point is that given different people in charge powers which exist can be used, whether they will or not is of course what we’ll find out.

          Sanctioning Musk as an individual could get very funny very quickly.

          • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
            11·
            4 months ago

            It could. But won’t. Because as I say. Parliment has zero actual power over him.

            You make out Zuckerberg was an odd situation.

            But honestly. Name an occasion where the UK parliment has had any power to summon the leaders of a non UK company. Even the US Congress has difficulty unless the company actually wants to be summoned. As we have seen with social media companies sending powerless no bodies to their summons.

            This is exactly what musk would do. And no way the US would help enforce it. Par.iment dose not have any extradition treatiesrelated to the right to MPs questions.