French prosecutors on Tuesday raided the Paris offices of social media platform X as part of a wider criminal investigation into alleged offences that include the spread of child sexual abuse images and sexually explicit deepfakes. The probe, led by the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, was first opened in January last year and now involves allegations of “complicity” in possessing and disseminating illegal content, manipulation of automated data systems, and denial of crimes against humanity.
Authorities have also summoned billionaire owner Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino for voluntary interviews scheduled in April. Other employees of X are expected to be questioned as part of the inquiry. The investigation expanded after growing concerns over AI-generated content from xAI’s chatbot Grok, which has been accused of producing sexually explicit deepfakes and controversial posts denying historical atrocities.
European law enforcement agency Europol is assisting France in the search, and parallel scrutiny from UK and EU regulators into X and xAI’s data practices and harmful content dissemination is ongoing. The platform has condemned the raid as politically motivated, while prosecutors maintain the action aims to ensure X complies with French law.
news as reported
