French prosecutors have escalated their investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X into a full criminal probe, seeking formal charges tied to alleged data violations, extremist content and AI-generated imagery.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
French prosecutors announced Thursday that their investigation into Elon Musk and his social platform X has been elevated to a formal criminal inquiry, intensifying a transatlantic dispute over online speech regulation, artificial intelligence and platform moderation.
According to reporting by Le Figaro, prosecutors in Paris are requesting that investigating magistrates formally charge Musk, former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino and several corporate entities linked to the platform, including xAI and X.AI Holdings Corp..
French prosecutors said that if those targeted decline to appear voluntarily, judges could issue warrants carrying the same legal force as formal summonses.
The investigation now includes allegations involving possession and distribution of sexual images, dissemination of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes, fraudulent extraction of user data, violations involving electronic communications secrecy, illegal personal data collection and manipulation of automated data processing systems as part of an organized group.
Authorities also cited allegations involving denial of crimes against humanity, which is criminalized under French law.
The expanded probe follows months of conflict between French officials and X over platform moderation practices and recommendation algorithms.
The investigation originated after Éric Bothorel, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, filed a complaint in 2025 alleging that X’s recommendation systems had been manipulated in ways that narrowed political discourse and enabled foreign interference in French democratic debate.
A separate complaint filed by a senior French public official similarly alleged increased circulation of hateful, racist and anti-LGBTQ content following Musk’s takeover of the platform.
French investigators later sought direct access to X’s recommendation algorithms to evaluate potential political bias, according to the report.
X refused to comply, calling the inquiry politically motivated and rejecting demands to hand over internal recommendation systems for state inspection.
The investigation later broadened after incidents involving Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI and integrated into X.
In November 2025, Grok reportedly generated French-language content questioning the use of gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Auschwitz Memorial publicly condemned the output. X later removed the content, while Grok attributed the incident to a programming error.
French prosecutors also examined misuse of Grok’s image-generation system after users created nonconsensual images involving women using AI tools. xAI subsequently restricted image-generation features to paid subscribers and said nudification capabilities had been blocked by mid-January 2026.
French authorities incorporated those incidents into the broader criminal investigation.
On Feb. 3, 2026, French cybercrime investigators, working alongside national police and Europol officials, raided X’s Paris offices as part of the probe.
X condemned the operation as “an abusive act of law enforcement theater designed to achieve illegitimate political objectives,” while Musk described the action as “a political attack.”
Musk and Yaccarino were later summoned for what French authorities described as voluntary interviews scheduled for April 20. Neither appeared.
Under French law, prosecutors may seek warrants against individuals who decline voluntary interviews in certain criminal investigations.
The dispute intensified further when the U.S. Department of Justice declined requests from French authorities seeking cooperation in the investigation.
According to the report, the DOJ sent French officials a letter stating the case appeared aimed at regulating American speech through foreign criminal law in ways inconsistent with constitutional protections in the United States.
“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the DOJ reportedly wrote.
The department also said French requests for assistance constituted “an effort to entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”
An xAI official later thanked the Justice Department publicly and said the company hoped French authorities would terminate what it described as a baseless investigation.
The escalating dispute highlights widening tensions between American technology firms and European governments over speech moderation, AI regulation, online algorithms and digital platform governance.
Original article
Comments