The Royal Society, the U.K.’s national scientific academy, will hold a special meeting on March 3 after more than 2,400 members signed a letter protesting its failure to take action against Elon Musk, a member of the society since 2018. The Silicon Valley financier is accused of spreading conspiracy theories and attacking political figures, as well as advocating cuts to scientific research in the U.S. as head of DOGE in the Trump administration. The petitioners are calling for a public distancing from the Royal Society, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific institutions, while President Sir Adrian Smith stressed that the society must be cautious in judging personal opinions of members, although he recognized that values evolve and internal discussion is needed. According to academy members, Musk “has acted in violation of his own code of conduct.”
Writing the open letter was scientist Stephen Curry, professor emeritus of structural biology at Imperial College London. Addressing his colleagues, Curry bluntly expressed dismay that Elon Musk has imposed massive cuts in U.S. funding for scientific research in what he called a “censorship regime that is a direct threat to freedom of expression and academic freedom.”
Professor Curry also expressed concern at Musk’s post on X in which he openly attacked Assistant Secretary of State for Protection and Violence against Women and Girls Jess Phillips, on the issue of “grooming gangs” in the UK. These refer to organized groups that have sexually exploited vulnerable and often orphaned young girls, particularly minors, for decades. These crimes emerged mainly between the late 1990s and 2014. Musk in recent years has thus reopened the issue on “grooming gangs” with the express purpose of criticizing the work of the current government and previous officials. Musk had said that Phillips was a “rape genocide apologist” and an “evil witch” in posts on X (a social media platform that he owns) to his over 200 million followers.
“I am at a loss to understand how these actions are consistent with a code of conduct that requires fellows to have ‘due regard for the statement of values developed from time to time by Society’, (values that ask fellows to ‘act in accordance with the highest standards of public life’, to make a ‘positive impact’, to ‘strive for excellence.’)” Curry wrote.
The Imperial College professor concluded the letter by encouraging Academy members to react to Musk’s stance by stating, “I urge you, for the sake of decency and to offer hope in what are very troubling times, to demonstrate that the Royal Society has the courage to stand up for the scientific community and the values it claims to believe in.”
