French authorities have raided the Paris offices of X as part of an expanding investigation into alleged cybercrime, including claims of algorithm manipulation and the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the search was carried out by its cybercrime unit alongside national police and Europol. Prosecutors confirmed that Elon Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for questioning in April over their roles in managing the platform.
The probe, launched in January last year, initially focused on suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction. It has since been broadened to include complaints linked to X’s AI chatbot Grok, covering allegations such as the distribution of child abuse material, sexualised deepfakes, Holocaust denial and other illegal content.
The raid comes amid tougher European scrutiny of social media companies. Governments in France, Spain and Greece are weighing stricter rules, including possible age-based restrictions, to curb harmful online content.
X has denied all wrongdoing, calling the raid an act of «law enforcement theatre» and accusing French authorities of political motives. Prosecutors said the investigation aims to ensure the platform complies with French law while operating in the country.
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