Politics

French Police Raid Musk’s X Office In Growing Deepfakes, Sexual Content Investigation

(Screenshot/YouTube/CNBC)

French authorities raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X and ordered the billionaire to appear for questioning, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

The search was conducted by French cybercrime police with assistance from Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced. The action is part of a criminal investigation opened more than a year ago that has expanded to include allegations of algorithm abuse and the spread of illegal content, including sexual deepfakes, on the platform.

Prosecutors said Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned to hearings scheduled for April 20.

The probe initially stemmed from complaints by French lawmaker Éric Bothorel, who accused X of distorting its algorithms in ways that interfered with political discourse. Authorities later broadened the investigation to include X’s AI chatbot, Grok, following complaints about its outputs.

“Glad to see that my complaint from January 2025 is yielding results!” Bothorel wrote on X following the news of the raid. “In Europe, and particularly in France, the Rule of Law means that no one is above the law.”

Prosecutors said they are investigating possible complicity in the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material, the defamation of individuals through sexually explicit deepfakes, and content denying “crimes against humanity,” including Holocaust denial, according to Reuters.

After the April hearings, prosecutors could choose to close the case, continue the investigation or pursue further legal action.

X did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

The French raid comes as regulators across Europe intensify scrutiny of X and its AI systems.

The European Commission in January announced it had opened a separate investigation into X under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), focusing on whether the company adequately assessed and mitigated risks associated with Grok before rolling it out across the EU’s 27 member states.

EU officials said the probe will examine whether Grok facilitated the spread of illegal content, including sexually explicit images. The AI chatbot has faced criticism for generating non-consensual sexual images, including those of minors. Grok acknowledged in posts on X that it had produced such content and cited “lapses in safeguards.”

The European Commission’s investigation follows an earlier enforcement action in which EU regulators fined X roughly $140 million under the DSA, alleging the platform misled users with its paid verification system and failed to provide sufficient data access to researchers.

The penalty drew sharp criticism from U.S. officials, who accused Brussels of targeting American companies and undermining free expression.

Vice President JD Vance publicly condemned the fine, saying the EU should support free speech rather than “attacking American companies.”

In the U.K., media regulator Ofcom has opened its own investigation into whether X violated the country’s Online Safety Act by allowing Grok to generate sexualized images. Officials in India have also accused the chatbot of creating sexualized images of individuals without consent.