An operation that is making waves. On Tuesday, agents from Europol and the cyber unit of the National Gendarmerie searched the Parisian premises of the social network X, as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 into the functioning of the social network. The boss of the platform, Elon Musk, and the former manager, Linda Yaccarino, must be heard in a free hearing on April 20.
A “political attack”
The intervention of the authorities was strongly criticized by Elon Musk, who sees it as a “political attack” from France. The company, which “categorically denies having committed the slightest offense”also published a press release on his network, expressing indignation at a “politically motivated criminal investigation into allegations of algorithm manipulation and alleged fraudulent data extraction.” This measure would even be “an abusive judicial act” aimed at “achieve illegitimate political objectives rather than promoting the fairest application of the law while respecting a loyal and impartial administration of justice.”
For X, the Paris prosecutor’s office would try “to exert pressure on the general management of X in the United States” by carrying out an investigation which “violates French law, constitutes a misuse of procedure and undermines freedom of expression”.
Therefore, the company promises to “defend its fundamental rights as well as those of its users”: “We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the measures implemented today by the French judicial authorities. »
French justice intends to “guarantee the compliance of platform X with French laws”
The investigation targeting X was opened after reports from the deputy Eric Bothoreldenouncing biased algorithms in the operation of the platform. “The investigation was expanded following other reports denouncing the operation of Grok on the X platform, leading to the dissemination of denialist content and deepfakes of a sexual nature”said the prosecution.
This lists the criminal offenses which are now being investigated: “ complicity in possession of images of minors of a child pornography nature », “ complicity in the dissemination, offering or making available in an organized group of images of minors of a child pornography nature », “ attack on the representation of the person », “ protest of crime against humanity » or even “ administration of an illicit online platform in an organized group ». The Paris prosecutor’s office emphasizes that this investigation aims to “guarantee the compliance of platform X with French laws, to the extent that it operates on national territory”.
