Britain’s influential Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMSC) has summoned Elon Musk to a hearing to discuss how he “will balance his clear commitment to free speech with new obligations to protect Twitter users from harm online”.

Musk has no obligation to attend, but a letter sent to Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto today asked him to “discuss the proposals further” before the committee, which is made up of representatives from all parties. and regularly grids the patterns of the main broadcasters. and production houses.

The letter from DCMSC chairman Julian Knight said the committee was particularly interested in Musk’s proposal to roll out verification to all users, which Knight said echoes calls on the UK government “that, we hopefully will restore the UK public’s trust in digital platforms”.

The world’s richest man is pushing ahead with his plan to acquire Twitter for $44 billion and question marks around free speech have been raised, with Musk having been a vocal critic of Twitter’s censorship guidelines in the past. Former POTUS Donald Trump has been touted to return to the platform.

“I know you have expressed your desire for critics to stay on Twitter and this may be an opportunity to respond to any criticism in public,” Knight wrote. “I look forward to hearing your response and discussing your plans for the future of Twitter in committee in the near future.”

The committee has interviewed big names in the past, including Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen late last year.

In 2018, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was called before the DCMSC for a joint hearing with Canada’s Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics to discuss fake news, but he refused.