Prosecutors filed a request for “voluntary interviews” of Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino, scheduled for April 20. file | Image Credit: Reuters
The French offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X were being searched on Tuesday (Feb 3, 2026) as part of a preliminary investigation into a range of alleged crimes, including child pornography and spreading deepfakes, Paris prosecutors’ office said.
An investigation by the prosecutors’ cybercrime unit was opened in January last year, the statement said. It is examining the “sophistication” in arresting and spreading obscene images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of automated data processing systems as part of an organized group and other crimes.
In addition, prosecutors filed a request for “voluntary interviews” of Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X from 2023 to 2025, scheduled for April 20. Employees of Platform X were called to testify the same week in April, the statement said.
A spokesman for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a message posted on X, the Paris prosecutors’ office confirmed ongoing searches and said it was leaving the platform while calling on followers to join on other social media.
“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a structured approach, ultimately aimed at ensuring that the X platform complies with French law as it operates on national territory,” prosecutors said in a statement.
The investigation was first opened after reports by French lawmakers alleging that biased algorithms in X may have distorted the functioning of the automated data processing system. The statement said it was expanded after additional reports that X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok denied the massacre and spread sexually suggestive deepfakes.
Published – February 03, 2026 05:32 pm IST
