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Elon Musk is being asked by the British Parliament to give evidence about the activities of social media platform X as part of the plans of a leading contender to chair a key body of MPs.

Labour politician Dawn Butler, who is vying to chair the Science and Technology Select Committee in the House of Commons, told the Financial Times that the US-based billionaire owner of X was someone we “would be happy to invite as a witness”.

“It is critical that the committee formally investigates the use of algorithms to spread hate material – and the moderation of such content – on X and other social media platforms,” ​​Butler said.

Her rival for the leadership, Labour MP Chi Onwurah, also supports an inquiry into the use of algorithms by social media companies, including how they lead to misinformation and profiteering.

Their focus on social media and misinformation comes at a time when authorities around the world are grappling with Musk’s enormous influence and the impact of the discourse in his program on politics in democracies.

Last month, British government officials complained that they had encountered resistance from X during the worst unrest in England in more than a decade when they called for the closure of posts seen as a threat to national security.

Musk also mocked Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on X during the unrest, claiming that “civil war is inevitable” in Britain. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Butler’s statement.

Nominations for committee chairs in the House of Commons closed on Monday, with elections for contested positions scheduled for Wednesday. If there are challengers, all MPs have one vote. There are 26 select committees in the House of Commons, which typically scrutinise ministers, civil servants and senior figures from the sectors relevant to their investigations.

MPs cannot compel witnesses to appear, but can consider them in “contempt” of Parliament if they fail to comply with a formal summons. In practice, however, the sanction is only symbolic.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and retail magnate Sir Philip Green are among the business leaders who initially refused to appear before select committees before giving in. In 2011, MPs dispatched the House of Commons’ deputy sergeant at arms to deliver a summons to the headquarters of Murdoch’s British newspapers.

Committee chair positions are highly prized positions in Parliament, seen as a career springboard for ambitious new MPs and prestigious posts for party bigwigs who have served their time on the front benches. Chairs receive a £18,309 top-up on top of their basic salary of £91,346.

The allocation of seats among British political parties is based on the results of the previous general election, but some seats, including the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, are reserved for the official opposition, today’s Conservatives.

Following its landslide victory in July, Labour secured the majority of these posts – including those on the finance, economic, defence, education and energy committees, while the Tories negotiated the posts on culture, home affairs, public administration and constitutional affairs.

The Liberal Democrats will lead select committees covering two of the policy areas they campaigned most heavily on last year: health and social care, and environment, food and rural affairs.

Dame Meg Hillier, Labour MP and chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee from 2015 to 2024, was elected unopposed to the prestigious post of chair of the Treasury Select Committee, which will oversee the work of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and her department.

Hillier, a former permanent secretary under Labour’s last prime minister, Gordon Brown, will have the important task of scrutinising Reeves’ first budget on October 30, including the “painful” measures the Chancellor of the Exchequer described as necessary to balance the books.

Additional reporting by George Hammond