LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Royal Society has decided the scientific academy will not take any action against a famous member, U.S. tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, after fellows met to discuss potential disciplinary measures, British media reported on Wednesday.
The Royal Society, which began in 1660 and is the oldest national scientific academy in continuous existence, said last month that it would hold a meeting to discuss “principles around the public pronouncements and behaviours of fellows” after thousands of scientists expressed their concerns about Musk’s membership.
Musk, who owns X and has been a close aide to Donald Trump since the U.S. president took office in January, was elected as a fellow in 2018 for his technological achievements in space travel and electric vehicles.
The Guardian newspaper said Adrian Smith, the Royal Society’s president, had written to members to rule out disciplinary proceedings. Past fellows of the Society have included Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
In a statement, The Royal Society said any issues about the behaviour of its fellows were dealt with in strict confidence.
But it added that the view of its governing council was “that making judgements on the acceptability of the views and actions of fellows, particularly those that might be regarded as political, could do more harm than good to the Society and the cause of science in general”.
Almost 3,500 scientists had signed an open letter expressing dismay at what they described as “continued silence and apparent inaction” from the Royal Society over Musk’s fellowship.
They said Musk’s behaviour, including what they said was embracing conspiracy theories, breached the Royal Society’s code of conduct, while the situation had become more serious because of his position in Trump’s administration, which they said had engaged in “an assault on scientific research”.
Musk has not commented on X, his usual place for public remarks, on the scientists’ letter.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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