20 November 2024 10:36am GMT The Science Secretary said he could leave X, formerly Twitter, as he no longer enjoys using the social media platform after its takeover by Elon Musk. Peter Kyle refused to say whether he saw the billionaire owner as a friend or a foe before revealing that he no longer scrolls through the app. Mr Musk, who will have a senior role in president-elect Donald Trump’s administration, describes himself as a “free speech absolutist” and has unbanned thousands of accounts. The Guardian quit X in the wake of Mr Trump’s US election victory earlier this month, citing concerns over “far-Right conspiracy theories and racism” on the “ever more toxic” site. Asked whether his experience on X had improved since Mr Musk took over, Mr Kyle told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “No, it hasn’t. In fact, I don’t scroll through it. “I use it because I know that it is an audience that I really want to communicate with and me and my team both have access to my account now and post materials on it. But I have to say in the past I really enjoyed interacting on X, that enjoyment isn’t there any more. “But I do realise there are people who are on that platform that are really, really keen to connect with and to communicate with and to share the information that comes out of the work that I have as Secretary of State.” Asked whether he could see himself following The Guardian off the platform, Mr Kyle replied: “I can see the circumstances where I would. “But at the moment, I really strive to try and communicate with people from as many backgrounds, as many perspectives, as possible. “It would be a very big thing for me to turn away from it, from an audience, but I don’t know what the future holds. I keep an open mind about these things.” Mr Kyle declined to say whether Mr Musk was a “friend or foe for your ambitions”, replying: “I just don’t look at the world in that way.” He hailed the billionaire’s “incredible” SpaceX rocket launch earlier this week but was more critical of X, saying it should comply with “all of the values that we expect”. At the G20 summit this week, Sir Keir Starmer said he had “no plans” to move his own account or that of the Government off X. It comes ahead of Mr Musk being summoned by MPs to testify at a parliamentary inquiry into disinformation and the riots that swept Britain after the Southport killings. He could be quizzed in the Commons about the spread of harmful content and fake news if he were to accept the invitation from the science and technology committee. Posts on X wrongly identified the man suspected of fatally stabbing three young girls, claiming he was an asylum seeker who had crossed the Channel in a small boat last year. Mr Musk claimed the unrest showed Britain was “heading for civil war” and called the Prime Minister “two-tier Keir” after people were jailed for stirring up racial hatred online. Senior executives from Meta, which runs Facebook and Instagram, are also expected to be called as part of the science and technology select committee social media inquiry. Chi Onwurah, the Labour chairman of the select committee, told The Guardian: “[Musk] has very strong views on multiple aspects of this. I would certainly like the opportunity to cross-examine him to see… how he reconciles his promotion of freedom of expression with his promotion of pure disinformation.” The first hearings will take place in the new year, as concern grows that the laws designed to counter misinformation in the Online Safety Act are “not fit for purpose” and being left behind by rapidly advancing technology. Join the conversation