The Paris prosecutor’s office disclosed that the French offices of social media giant X are under investigation. The prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, aided by Europol and the National Gendarmerie cyber unit, is conducting the searches. This action is linked to an inquiry initiated in January 2025 after a French legislator raised concerns about alleged biased algorithms on the X platform.
The investigation’s scope broadened following additional complaints, including allegations that Grok on X facilitated the spread of Holocaust-denying content and sexually explicit deepfake videos. X’s founder Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino, along with other X employees, have been summoned for a hearing on April 20. Consequently, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that X would be exiting the platform and redirecting users to its other social media accounts.
In a separate incident, the European Commission fined X 120 million euros for breaching transparency obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The violations included deceptive practices related to the blue checkmark, lack of advertising transparency, and failure to grant researchers access to public data. Musk criticized the EU for the fine, expressing intentions to target those responsible for the penalty and suggesting that the EU should be abolished.
