Paris prosecutors have summoned X owner Elon Musk for questioning after conducting a raid on the platform’s offices in the French capital as part of an investigation into the alleged spread of sexual deepfakes, child abuse images and Holocaust denial content.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the search was carried out early Tuesday by its cybercrime unit in cooperation with the French police cybercrime division and Europol. Authorities have issued voluntary summonses for Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino to appear and answer questions about the platform’s compliance with French law.
Prosecutors said the investigation covers several suspected criminal offenses, including complicity in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, violations of personal rights through the creation of sexual deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and the alleged fraudulent extraction of data from an automated processing system as part of an organized group.
“The voluntary interviews with the managers should allow them to explain their position on the facts and, where applicable, the compliance measures envisaged,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Musk and Yaccarino have been asked to appear in Paris during the week of April 20, although it remains unclear whether prosecutors have the legal authority to compel their attendance.
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The Paris prosecutor’s office also announced it was closing its official X account and would instead communicate through LinkedIn and Instagram.
Europol later said the probe relates to “a range of suspected criminal offences linked to the functioning and use of the platform, including the dissemination of illegal content and other forms of online criminal activity.”
X did not immediately respond to media requests for comment. However, the company’s global government affairs account criticized the move, calling the raid an abuse of law enforcement intended to serve political objectives rather than impartial justice.
Musk echoed that view in a post on his personal X account, describing the investigation as “a political attack.”
X has faced growing scrutiny and political pressure from European governments and the European Union over its role in spreading harmful or illegal content and its potential influence on elections.
#From Agencies