French police raided the offices of Elon Musk's social media network X on Tuesday, and prosecutors ordered the tech billionaire to face questions in April related to a widening investigation into the platform, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
-
French police raided X’s Paris offices as part of a widening criminal investigation into the platform’s algorithms, data practices, and AI chatbot Grok.
-
Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for questioning in April, along with other employees and witnesses.
-
The probe now includes serious allegations, such as the distribution of sexualized deepfakes and child sexual abuse material, alongside earlier claims of algorithm abuse and data manipulation.
-
European regulators are increasing pressure on X, with parallel investigations underway by the European Commission under the Digital Services Act and scrutiny from UK regulator Ofcom.
What else is new in this story?
Telegram founder Durov criticizes French raid on X
Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, didn’t miss out on commenting on the French authorities raiding X’s offices in Paris.
In a post on X, he called France “the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom.”
He named X, TikTok, and Telegram as examples.
“Don’t be mistaken: this is not a free country,” he finished his commentary.
Cybernews has previously reported that Telegram was the first social media platform after X to have Grok.
The Russian millionaire also has bad blood with French authorities. In August 2024, he was detained by French authorities at Paris’ Le Bourget airport and charged in a criminal investigation over Telegram’s alleged failure to curb abusive and illegal activity on the platform, including activity linked to organized crime.
Since then, Durov has been actively criticising France for how it handled his case, calling it “misguided” and “legally and logically absurd.”
Eric Bothorel: no one is above the law
Eric Bothorel is one of the key figures in today’s investigation and raid on X’s offices in Paris. In January 2025, the lawmaker was the first to raise concerns that X’s algorithms were biased and potentially distorting the platform’s operations.
Today, he shared the Paris prosecutor's office post on X and said that his complaint, filed a bit more than a year ago, is producing results and emphasized that in France and Europe, “no one is above the law.”
Back in 2025, he expressed worries that X was limiting the diversity of opinions and promoting content that could threaten democratic debate in France. For instance, he emphasized issues such as the spread of hateful, racist, anti-LGBT+, and homophobic political content.
What also triggered his fury was the supposed lack of clarity on how posts or discussions were being moderated, and Elon Musk’s direct interventions in the platform’s management.
At the time, Bothorel argued that it posed a significant risk to the integrity of public discourse.
X faces investigation beyond sexualized content
Among other crimes, the Paris Prosecutor's office mentions felonies such as denial of crimes against humanity, such as the Holocaust, fraudulent extraction and tampering with data in an automated system as part of an organized group. Also, management of an illicit online platform in an organized group.
The raid is linked to a year-long investigation into suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by X or its executives.
However, in a statement the Paris Prosecutor's office said it was widening that investigation following complaints over the functioning of X's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok.
The probe will now also investigate alleged complicity in the detention and diffusion of images of a child‑pornographic nature and the violation of a person’s image rights with sexually explicit deepfakes, among other potential crimes.
Musk, and former CEO Linda Yaccarino, are summoned to a hearing on April 20. Other X staff are also summoned as witnesses.
There was no immediate comment from X. In July, Musk denied the initial accusations and said French prosecutors were launching a "politically-motivated criminal investigation".
"At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French laws, insofar as it operates on national territory," the prosecutor's office said.
The prosecutor's cybercrime unit is conducting the investigation together with the French police's own cybercrime unit and Europol.
“European Union police agency Europol ’’is supporting the French authorities in this,″ Europol spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth told The Associated Press, without elaborating more.
The Paris prosecutor's office said it launched the investigation after being contacted by a lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms in X were likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system.
Cybernews has previously reported that it’s not the first time that X caught the eye of legal authorities in Europe. The social media giant has been investigated by European regulators for possible breaches of content moderation and digital services laws.
Have thoughts about this topic? Others do, too. Join them in the discussion.
French lawmaker Eric Bothorel previously raised concerns over threats to democracies posed by the platform.
Another complaint alleged that X is full of “hateful, racist, anti-LGBT+ and homophobic political content, which aims to skew the democratic debate in France.”
Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are markedmarked