French Authorities Raid X Offices in Paris, Summon Elon Musk in Cybercrime Probe
French authorities have raided the Paris offices of social media platform X and summoned its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, to appear before investigators as part of a wide-ranging probe into alleged cybercrimes and illegal content hosted on the platform.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office said the raid is linked to an investigation launched early last year over suspicions of algorithmic bias and the unlawful extraction of user data. Prosecutors added that the scope of the investigation has since expanded to include potential charges of complicity in criminal offenses.
The allegations under review include the possession and dissemination of child sexual abuse material, defamation through the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images, Holocaust denial, and the manipulation of automated data-processing systems.
Prosecutors have also requested voluntary interviews with Elon Musk, CEO and owner of the platform’s parent company, as well as former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino. These interviews are scheduled to take place on April 20. Several X employees have likewise been summoned to provide testimony during the same period.
The prosecution stressed that the investigation aims to ensure X’s compliance with French law while operating within French territory. The probe is being conducted in cooperation with the French police’s cybercrime unit and the European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol.
In response, X described the measures as politically motivated and characterized the raid as an abuse of law enforcement powers, firmly rejecting all allegations.
The developments come amid tighter scrutiny by France and the European Union of major social media platforms, accused of failing to adequately combat illegal content, hate speech, and disinformation. The EU previously fined X $141 million for breaching transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act and has opened additional investigations into the use of artificial intelligence tools to generate unlawful fake content.