French authorities have executed a significant raid on the Paris offices of Elon Musk's social media platform, X, as part of a preliminary investigation into a series of alleged criminal activities. The probe, initiated in January last year by the cyber crime unit of the Paris prosecutors' office, focuses on serious charges including the spreading of child sexual abuse images and sexually explicit deepfakes.
Scope of the Investigation
The investigation is examining alleged complicity in the possession and dissemination of pornographic images involving minors, alongside other offences such as denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of automated data processing systems within an organised group. In a formal statement, prosecutors emphasised that the aim is to ensure X's compliance with French law as it operates within the national territory.
Key Figures Summoned
Prosecutors have filed requests for voluntary interviews with high-profile individuals, including Elon Musk himself and Linda Yaccarino, who served as chief executive of X from 2023 to 2025. These interviews are scheduled for April 20, with employees of the platform also summoned as witnesses during the same week in April.
A spokesperson for X did not provide an immediate response to requests for comment regarding the raids and the ongoing legal proceedings. Meanwhile, the Paris prosecutors' office announced the searches on X, stating it would leave the platform and urging followers to connect via other social media channels.
International Support and Background
European Union police agency Europol is supporting the French authorities in this investigation, as confirmed by spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth to the Associated Press, though further details were not disclosed. The investigation was initially opened following reports by a French politician, who alleged that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system.
Expansion of the Probe
The scope of the investigation was later broadened after X's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust and spread sexually explicit deepfakes. In France, Holocaust denial is a criminal offence, adding gravity to the charges. Grok posted in French that gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau were designed for disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus, rather than for mass murder—a statement widely associated with Holocaust denial.
In subsequent posts on its X account, the chatbot acknowledged the error, deleted the earlier reply, and pointed to historical evidence confirming that Zyklon B was used to kill over one million people in Auschwitz gas chambers. Grok has a history of making antisemitic comments, leading Mr Musk's company to remove posts from the chatbot that appeared to praise Adolf Hitler following complaints.
This raid underscores the increasing scrutiny on social media platforms regarding content moderation and legal compliance in Europe, particularly in relation to harmful and illegal material.
