Open letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your values

If you wish to show your support for the letter below regarding apparent inaction by the Royal Society in the face of breaches of its code of conduct by Elon Musk FRS, please sign below. I invite anyone who considers themselves a member of the UK or international scientific community to sign. I am not collecting email addresses. I will regularly update the blogpost where this letter originally appeared with signatories. 11 Feb 2025 Dear President Smith, I write to express my dismay at the continued silence and apparent inaction from the Royal Society over the Fellowship awarded in 2018 to Elon Musk. The Society was made aware of Fellows’ concerns over six months ago about how Musk’s behaviour was in contravention of your Code of Conduct. Clear instances of this, such as his promotion of unfounded conspiracy theories and his malicious accusations towards Anthony Fauci were highlighted in Professor Dorothy Bishop’s resignation statement. To that we can now add his post on X (Twitter) about the Rt Hon Jess Philips MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, falsely accusing her of being a “rape genocide apologist” who should be jailed, an utterance that placed her in physical danger. 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.”). The Royal Society, as our national science academy, holds a unique and leading position within the UK scientific community, a position that in the Society’s own words “rests upon the reputation of the Fellows and Foreign Members of which the Society is composed”. That reputation has been grievously undermined by the public statements of Mr Musk. The situation is rendered more serious because Mr Musk now occupies a position within a Trump administration in the USA that has over the past several weeks engaged in an assault on scientific research in the US that has fallen foul of federal courts. It has sought to impose huge cuts in funding and a regime of censorship (particularly with regard to EDI and climate issues) that is a direct threat to freedom of expression and academic freedom. According to your code of conduct, “Fellows and Foreign Members shall not act or fail to act in any way which would undermine the Society’s mission or bring the Society into disrepute.” Yet not one word of protest has been uttered by Mr Musk over actions that contradict the values the Society demands of its Fellows and that have caused widespread fear and concern within the scientific community in the States. This is a moment in which leaders and leading institutions need to take a stand. So far, the Royal Society has hidden behind the mantra that “Any issues raised in respect of individual fellows are dealt with in strict confidence.” I understand the need for confidentiality in cases of complaint, but the lack of any other statement in this very public instance, or recognition of its wider implications, increasingly looks like a failure of moral courage. What message does it send about the Society’s commitment to upholding its code, its values and its declarations about the importance of diversity and inclusion? What message of support does it send to our friends and colleagues in the USA, especially women, people from ethnic minorities, and disabled and LGBT researchers who are most exposed to the Trump-led offensive that has recruited Elon Musk FRS as its most enthusiastic general? 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 for the values that it claims to believe in. Yours sincerely Emeritus Professor Stephen Curry