LONDON: Britain’s Royal Society will hold a crunch meeting this week following calls to expel the world’s richest man, technology billionaire Elon Musk, from the prestigious institute of scientists.

Founded in 1660, the Royal Society describes itself as a “fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists” and is a key voice in the global scientific community. Past members have included Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Dorothy Hodgkin, Benjamin Franklin and Stephen Hawking.

But after members raised concerns about X owner Musk, who was elected a fellow in 2018, the organisation said it would now discuss “the principles around public pronouncements and behaviours of fellows”.

Nobel prize winners were among more than 3,000 people who signed an open letter published last month arguing that Musk had broken the Society’s code of conduct by promoting “unfounded conspiracy theories”. Researchers say changes Musk made to X after his 2022 takeover of the social media site, formerly known as Twitter, have led to a spike in misinformation.

The 53-year-old has also repeatedly used his own account to spread falsehoods including inaccurate claims about Covid-19, vaccines, miscarriages and heart problems.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2025