A leading scientist at the University of Oxford has resigned from the UK’s national academy of sciences over concerns about Elon Musk’s continuing fellowship.
Prof Dorothy Bishop, emeritus professor of developmental neuropsychology and a leading expert on children’s communication disorders, said she handed back her fellowship of the Royal Society last week.
Bishop told the Guardian her move was a gut reaction, adding she had met the president and the chief executive after indicating her decision to resign, who stressed the need to follow due process over Musk.
“I just started to think, you know, the Royal Society seemed to be set up to make it very, very difficult to ever get somebody to resign or to actually get thrown out, and given all I know about Musk, it felt grubby, to be honest,” she said.
“It just felt having him in the Royal Society seemed such a contradiction of all the values of the Royal Society. And I didn’t really want to have anything to do with it.”
Bishop also pointed to the Royal Society’s code of conduct, which stresses the need for fellows to treat each other with courtesy.
“What I said to them was, I’m not going to be polite and nice to Elon Musk I’m afraid, so I can’t keep to the code of conduct,” she said.
Writing in a blogpost, Bishop said she did not expect her resignation to have an impact, but it made her feel more comfortable.
“Any pleasure I may take in the distinction of the honour of an FRS is diminished by the fact it is shared with someone who appears to be modelling himself on a Bond villain, a man who has immeasurable wealth and power which he will use to threaten scientists who disagree with him,” she wrote.
While not explicitly cited by Bishop, last year Musk threatened to sue a group of researchers for the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate, whose work revealed that since Musk bought the site now known as X there has been an increase in hate speech on the platform.
Musk was elected a fellow in 2018 in recognition of his work and impact in the space and electric vehicle industries.
However, in August the Guardian revealed a number of fellows had written to the Royal Society expressing concern over the tech billionaire’s comments regarding unrest in the UK, and raising the possibility of removing his fellowship.
The same month, Downing Street criticised comments by the X owner saying “civil war is inevitable” posted below a video of violent riots in Liverpool.
But, Bishop noted, a lawyer for the Royal Society subsequently determined that Musk had not breached the body’s code of conduct.
“Many of the signatories of the letter, including me, were unhappy with this response. We set about assembling further evidence of behaviours incompatible with the code of conduct,” she wrote.
The upshot is a list that includes Musk’s posts on X about Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical adviser to the president of US; Musk’s posts on X promoting vaccine conspiracy theories; and Musk apparently downplaying of the climate crisis.
The Royal Society’s code of conduct says: “When speaking or publicising statements in a personal capacity, Fellows and Foreign Members must still strive to uphold the reputation of the Society and those who work in it, and be mindful that what is said or stated in a personal capacity could still impact the Society.”
Bishop said one issue is that a lot of the senior fellows of the Royal Society are not active on social media.
“I think the view you form of Elon Musk is completely different if you just read the Guardian or newspapers covering it than if you’re immersed in social media, as I am, where every day he’s doing something more outrageous,” she said.
A Royal Society spokesperson said: “The Royal Society greatly regrets Dorothy Bishop’s resignation from the Fellowship. She is an outstanding scientist and has contributed much to the Society over her years as a Fellow.
“In the event of any concerns raised about the behaviour of a Fellow, the Society has a clear set of processes described in our code of conduct, which is published on our website along with relevant disciplinary regulations.
“Any issues raised in respect of individual Fellows are dealt with in strict confidence.”
