French Authorities Launch Cybercrime Probe Against Elon Musk and Companies

French authorities have launched an investigation into X, a social media platform owned by Elon Musk, amid allegations of complicity in various crimes. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced the search on Tuesday as part of an ongoing probe that began last January. The initial investigation focused on claims of biased algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by the platform.

The inquiry has since expanded to include X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, as well as allegations of possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, defamation, Holocaust denial, and manipulation of automated data processing systems. Prosecutors have filed requests for voluntary interviews with Musk, the billionaire CEO of X’s parent company xAI, as well as SpaceX and Tesla, and the platform’s former CEO Linda Yaccarino.

Other staff at X have been summoned to appear as witnesses in the coming week. The investigation is being conducted by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, in collaboration with the French police’s cybercrime unit and Europol. The office stated that its goal is to ensure compliance with French laws for the platform when it operates on national territory.

X has not publicly responded to the raid or summons. In July, the company denied allegations of algorithm manipulation and fraudulent data extraction. France and the EU have been increasing efforts to regulate large social media operators, citing concerns over illegal content, disinformation, and hate speech. The European Commission recently launched an investigation into Grok related to the creation of sexually explicit fake images.

The United Kingdom’s media regulator Ofcom has also launched a formal investigation into X over the use of Grok to generate deepfakes. The US has expressed concerns that aggressive regulation could infringe on freedom of expression and unfairly target US-based technology companies.

Source: Al Jazeera