Prosecutors have raided the French headquarters of Elon Musk’s social media platform X and summoned the tech billionaire and the company’s former chief executive for questioning as part of an investigation into cybercrime.
“The search is being carried out by the cybercrime section of the Paris prosecutor’s office, the national police cyber unit and Europol,” the Paris prosecutors’ office said in a statement. Posted on Tuesday Xadding that it will no longer be published on the network.
It called in a statement Musk and Linda Yacarino for voluntary questioning “in their capacity as de facto and judgmental managers. X platform during events”. Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X in July last year.
The prosecutor’s office said it was investigating “alleged complicity” in crimes related to the platform, including spreading child abuse images and sexually indecent deepfakes, denying crimes against humanity and manipulating an automated data processing system as part of an organized group.
The French authority launched its investigation in January last year after a centre-right MP complained that biased algorithms on the platform could have skewed its data processing system and influenced the content it recommended.
The MP, Eric Bothorell, expressed “deep concern” at the “recent algorithm changes” and the “clear interference in”. [X’s] Management since Musk buys in 2022”
The investigation widened after reports that X’s AI chatbot, Grok, denounced the behavior, allegedly Engaged in Holocaust denial and spread sexually suggestive deepfakes.
X has been contacted for comment on Tuesday’s attack.
Company Said last summer It dismissed French authorities’ demands for an investigation as “politically motivated” and denied allegations of algorithm manipulation and “fraudulent data extraction”.
The platform said it believed it was “distorting French law to serve a political agenda and ultimately limiting freedom of speech.” It says it is committed to “protecting its fundamental rights, protecting user data and preventing political censorship”.
