He has described Twitter as a “town square” and pledged to limit censorship, as well as outlining plans to crack down on spam bots and verify more users’ identities.
In his letter to Mr Musk, sent last Friday, Mr Knight wrote: “My Committee has noted your proposed acquisition of Twitter and we are interested in the developments you propose. In particular, your intention to roll out verification for all users echoes our calls on the UK Government as part of proposed legislation, which we hope will restore the UK public’s trust in digital platforms.
“Our 2020 Report on Misinformation in the Covid ‘Infodemic’ called for greater transparency of bots and automated and spam accounts, whilst our recent Report on the UK’s Online Safety Bill discussed ways to balance civil liberties like freedom of expression with the need to tackle pernicious, pervasive online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
“I therefore wish to take this opportunity to invite you to speak before our Committee and discuss your proposals in more depth. I know you have expressed your wish that critics remain on Twitter and this may present an opportunity to address any critiques in public.”
The committee has few powers to force Mr Musk to travel to Britain. Under its previous chairman, Damian Collins, it repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to get Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to give evidence.
Overnight, Mr Musk said he will start charging business and government users on Twitter.
He said:
