By Sabiu Abdullahi
French prosecutors have raided the Paris headquarters of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, and summoned the tech billionaire and the company’s former chief executive for questioning as part of an expanded cybercrime investigation.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed the development in a post on X on Tuesday, stating: “A search is under way by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, the national police cyber unit and Europol.” The office added that it would no longer publish content on the platform.
In a separate statement, prosecutors said Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino had been invited for voluntary questioning “in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events.” Yaccarino stepped down from her role in July last year.
According to the prosecutor’s office, investigators are examining “alleged complicity” in several offences linked to activities on the platform. These include the spread of child abuse images and sexually explicit deepfakes, the denial of crimes against humanity, and the manipulation of an automated data processing system within an organised group.
The investigation began in January last year after a complaint was filed by a centre-right French MP, Éric Bothorel. He alleged that biased algorithms on the platform may have distorted its data processing system and influenced the type of content recommended to users.
Bothorel had earlier raised “deep concern” over “recent algorithm changes” and “apparent interference in [X’s] management” following Musk’s takeover of the company in 2022. Other complaints claimed the changes triggered an increase in what was described as “nauseating political content.”
Prosecutors later widened the scope of the inquiry after reports criticised the conduct of X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok. The reports alleged that the chatbot engaged in Holocaust denial and circulated sexually explicit deepfakes.
X was approached for comment following Tuesday’s raid. The company had previously stated last summer that it did not plan to comply with the demands of French authorities linked to the inquiry, which it described as “politically motivated.” It also rejected claims of algorithm manipulation and “fraudulent data extraction.”
The platform further argued that the investigation was “distorting French law to serve a political agenda, and ultimately restrict free speech.” It said it remained committed to “defending its fundamental rights, protecting user data and resisting political censorship.”