英王立協会、マスク氏追放を検討　「陰謀論」流布など非難

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】科学分野で国際的に権威のある英王立協会が、実業家イーロン・マスク氏の追放を検討している。（写真は実業家のイーロン・マスク氏）
　１６６０年に設立された同協会は「世界で最も著名な科学者の多くが集う協会」を称し、科学界で重要な発言力を持つ。過去の会員にはアルバート・アインシュタイン、アイザック・ニュートン、チャールズ・ダーウィン、ドロシー・ホジキン、ベンジャミン・フランクリン、スティーブン・ホーキングらの名前が並ぶ。
　宇宙開発企業スペースＸや電気自動車（ＥＶ）大手テスラ、ＳＮＳのＸ（旧ツイッター）を所有するマスク氏は、２０１８年にフェロー会員に選ばれた。
　だが、ノーベル賞受賞者を含む３０００人以上は先月、マスク氏が「根拠のない陰謀論を広め」、協会の行動規範に違反したと非難する公開書簡を発表。２０２２年にツイッターを買収したマスク氏がその後のＸに加えた変更が、誤情報の急増を引き起こしたと批判した。
　またマスク氏が自身のアカウントを使い、新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ－１９）、ワクチン、流産、心臓疾患に関する不正確な主張を繰り返し発信している点も問題視している。
　マスク氏追放を検討する３日の会議を前に、マスク氏自身は「臆病で自信のない愚か者だけが、賞や会員資格を気にするものだ」と反発した。
　マスク氏が反応したのは、昨年のノーベル物理学賞受賞者で「ＡＩのゴッドファーザー」として知られるジェフリー・ヒントン氏のＸへの投稿だった。ヒントン氏はマスク氏追放を求める理由として、「陰謀論を広めたり、ナチス式の敬礼をしたりするからではなく、彼が米国の科学機関に甚大な損害を与えているからだ」と指摘した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/04-16:53）

Britain's Royal Society will hold a crunch meeting on Monday following calls to expel technology billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest man, from the prestigious institute of scientists.
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.
But after members raised concerns about Musk, the owner of SpaceX, Tesla and the social network X who was elected a fellow in 2018, the organisation said it would discuss the principles around public pronouncements and behaviours of fellows.
Nobel prize winners were among more than 3,000 people who signed an open letter last month saying Musk had broken the Society's code of conduct by promoting unfounded conspiracy theories.
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 has also repeatedly used his own account to spread falsehoods including inaccurate claims about Covid-19, vaccines, miscarriages and heart problems.
Ahead of the debate, Musk said only craven, insecure fools care about awards and memberships.
He was responding to an X post by Nobel Prize laureate and Royal Society fellow Geoffrey Hinton, known as the Godfather of AI, who called for Musk to be expelled.
Not because he peddles conspiracy theories and makes Nazi salutes, but because of the huge damage he is doing to scientific institutions in the US, Hinton said.
Musk now holds increasing sway in the White House as a close advisor to US President Donald Trump.
He has rejected comparisons between the gesture he made at a Trump inauguration event earlier this year and a Nazi salute, and said Hinton's comments were carelessly ignorant, cruel and false.
What specific actions require correction? he said. I will make mistakes, but endeavour to fix them fast.
- 'Respect for evidence' -
Stephen Curry, author of the open letter and professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, said it was not about policing political views, this is not about enforcing some kind of political conformity.
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.
The Society, which has 1,800 fellows and foreign members including 85 Nobel laureates, says it aims to encourage the use of science for the benefit of humanity and the good of the planet.
The meeting, to which all members have been invited, was set to take place Monday evening behind closed doors, but it was not clear what action the Society might take.
In a statement to AFP, the Society said that any issues raised in respect of individual fellows are dealt with in strict confidence.