PARIS (Reuters) -Elon Musk’s X on Monday accused French prosecutors of launching a “politically-motivated criminal investigation” that threatens its users’ free speech, denying all allegations against it and saying it would not cooperate with the probe.
Earlier this month, Paris prosecutors stepped up a preliminary probe into the social media platform for suspected algorithmic bias and fraudulent data extraction. Police can now conduct searches, wiretaps and surveillance against Musk and X executives, or summon them to testify. If they do not comply, a judge could issue an arrest warrant.
“Based on what we know so far, X believes that this investigation is distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech,” X posted on its Global Government Affairs account.
As a result, X said it had refused Paris prosecutors’ request for “access to X’s recommendation algorithm and real-time data … as we have a legal right to do.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office did not respond to accusations of political bias, but confirmed it had sent a judicial request to X on July 19, asking for access solely to its algorithm.
It said it had offered X a secure channel to share the information with investigators, who would have had confidential access to the data, but had yet to receive an official response from the company. Failure to comply with a judicial request can range from a fine to obstruction of justice charges.
Musk, a former ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has accused European governments of attacking free speech and has voiced support for some of the region’s far-right parties.
The French probe could deepen a rift between Washington and European capitals over what sort of discourse is permitted online, with senior U.S. officials alleging the censoring of right-wing voices around the world.
The European Commission has been investigating X for breaching its digital transparency rules against illegal content, known as the Digital Services Act, since late 2023.
X criticised the fact that the probe was being investigated under organised crime charges, which could allow police to wiretap its employees’ personal devices.
The alleged crimes carry maximum sentences of up to 10 years, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
X said the probe had been instigated by French lawmaker Eric Bothorel, who had accused it of “manipulating its algorithm for ‘foreign interference’ purposes”, an allegation it said was “completely false”.
Bothorel, in a statement, defended the independence of the French judiciary.
“It’s a concept that seems completely upended in the United States at the moment,” he said, adding that France was committed to free speech but not without limits. “The absence of responsibility and oversight endangers freedom just as much as prohibitions and censorship do.”
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X said Paris prosecutors had requested it hand over data for analysis by researchers David Chavalarias and Maziyar Panahi, who it said had both exhibited “open hostility towards X”.
Chavalarias did not respond to a request for comment. Panahi denied any involvement in the investigation.
“My name was mentioned by mistake, based on my previous research projects with David Chavalarias, none of which have ever had any hostile intent toward X,” he said in an email.
“The fact my name has been mentioned in such an erroneous manner demonstrates how little regard they have for the lives of others … I will not hesitate to pursue legal action for defamation should I receive any form of hate speech.”
A spokesperson for X said the company stood by its statement.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru and Dominique Vidalon and Makini Brice in Paris; Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, David Holmes, Christina Fincher and Marguerita Choy)
