Paris prosecutors have this morning raided the French offices of social media network X, with Elon Musk summoned for an interview.
The operation, which involves the EU police agency Europol, is part of an investigation opened in January 2025 into a range of alleged offences, including spreading child pornography and deepfakes.
The prosecutors’ cybercrime unit is also looking into alleged ‘complicity’ in the denial of crimes against humanity, and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organised group.
French prosecutors said they had summoned X owner, Elon Musk, for a voluntary interview in April as part of the investigation.
‘Summons for voluntary interviews on April 20, 2026, in Paris have been sent to Mr. Elon Musk and Ms. Linda Yaccarino, in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events,’ it said.
Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X in July last year, after two years at the helm of the company.
The investigation was opened following two complaints in January 2025 and then broadened after additional reports criticised the AI chatbot Grok for its role in disseminating Holocaust denials and sexual deepfakes.
One of the complaints came from Eric Bothorel, an MP from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party, who complained of ‘reduced diversity of voices and options’ and Musk’s ‘personal interventions’ in the platform’s management since he took it over.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office at the time confirmed the investigation, denouncing the alleged biased algorithms which may have ‘distorted the operation of an automated data processing system’.
Laurent Buanec, France director of X, pushed back against the investigation in January 2025, saying X had ‘strict, clear and public rules’, which protected the platform from hate speech and disinformation.
In July, Mr Musk denied the initial accusations and said French prosecutors were launching a ‘politically-motivated criminal investigation’.
‘At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French laws, insofar as it operates on national territory,’ the prosecutor’s office said.
The prosecutor’s office also said it was leaving the X social media platform and would communicate on LinkedIn and Instagram from now on. LinkedIn belongs to Microsoft and Instagram to Meta.
The prosecutor’s office made this announcement in a post on X itself, though no further details about the specific nature of the algorithm concerns or the scope of the search were provided.
X has been under investigation since January 12, 2025, according to local media reports.
The prosecutor’s office said the operation was part of efforts to ensure X was complying with French laws.
The investigation was then expanded on July 9, 2025, after reports of sexually explicit deepfakes and holocaust denial content circulating on the platform.
The social media platform has previously faced backlash in the UK for its artificial intelligence tool Grok and the creation of sexually explicit photos.
Media regulator Ofcom launched a probe into X for the images, while Sir Keir Starmer branded the AI chatbot ‘unlawful’.
Mr Musk then restricted Grok’s image editing feature exclusively to paying subscribers, after threats that it could be banned in the UK.
While X is yet to comment on Tuesday’s raid, it has previously described the investigation as an attack on free speech.
The legally responsible entity for X is based in Ireland; X France manages only communications and public affairs.
Brussels has already been investigating possible violations of the Digital Services Act regarding disinformation since December 2023. Conclusions are expected in the coming weeks.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
