Tech billionaire Elon Musk has survived calls for his expulsion from the Royal Society following a crunch meeting at the elite British science institute.
However, the roughly 150 members in attendance vowed to combat “misinformation and ideologically motivated attacks” on science following Monday’s closed-door talks.
It came after more than 3,000 people including Nobel prize winners signed an open letter last month saying X owner Musk had broken the Society’s code of conduct by promoting “unfounded conspiracy theories”.
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.
Musk, the owner of SpaceX and Tesla as well as social network X, was elected a fellow in 2018.
Researchers say changes Musk made to X after his 2022 takeover of the site formerly known as Twitter have led to a spike in misinformation.
The 53-year-old Musk has also repeatedly used his own account to spread falsehoods including inaccurate claims about Covid-19, vaccines, miscarriages and heart problems.
Before the meeting, the Society said members would discuss “the principles around public pronouncements and behaviours of fellows”.
The institute, which has 1,800 fellows and foreign members including 85 Nobel laureates, told AFP on Tuesday that “all Fellows are listed on our website” — where Musk’s profile still stands.
It added in a statement that at the meeting, the fellows agreed to step up efforts to defend “science and scientists at a time when these are under threat as never before”.
“Concern was expressed, in particular, about the fate of colleagues in the US who are reportedly facing the prospect of losing their jobs amid threats of radical cutbacks in research funding,” it said.
Musk now holds increasing sway in the White House as a close advisor to US President Donald Trump, and has been given sweeping powers to slash spending and overhaul government.
Stephen Curry, author of the open letter and professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, had said the debate was “not about policing political views”.
“I think the main charges that are troubling to many people is that Elon Musk has not shown respect for evidence,” he said.
“He’s widely reported to be one of the most active disseminators of misinformation on Twitter and that’s not something that is consistent with the code of conduct.”
Ahead of the debate, Musk had said “only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships”.