French prosecutors raided X's offices in Paris, France on Tuesday to investigate the company for allegedly committing crimes with the online platform. The investigation was opened in January amid concerns of alleged offenses, including the spreading of sexual abuse images on the platform, as well as Holocaust denial linked to Grok.
“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law, as it operates on the national territory,” prosecutors said in a statement. They have alleged that X, because there has been distribution of sexually explicit images of children as well as pro-Nazi content, has "complicity" in the possession and distribution of the content.
The prosecutor's office said that potential offenses from X include the distribution of "child pornography images," the generation of "sexual deepfakes," as well as the denial of the Holocaust. "The voluntary interviews with the managers should enable them to explain their position on the facts and, where applicable, the compliance measures envisaged," the office said, per NBC News.
Musk, as well as X's former CEO Linda Yaccarino, have been summoned to appear and testify regarding questions about the platform's measures to be in line with French law. It is against the law in France to deny the Holocaust.
Founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said of the raids, "French police is currently raiding X’s office in Paris. France is the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom (Telegram, X, TikTok…). Don’t be mistaken: this is not a free country."
European Union police are also "supporting the French authorities in this,” according to Europol spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth. The EU has pressured X as well as Musk for alleged "hate speech" on the platform. Last year, the EU fined the company around $140 million, alleging that X did not properly censor content the EU deemed to be "hate speech" and "misinformation."
At the time, Vice President JD Vance said, “Rumors swirling that the E.U. commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage."
“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law, as it operates on the national territory,” prosecutors said in a statement. They have alleged that X, because there has been distribution of sexually explicit images of children as well as pro-Nazi content, has "complicity" in the possession and distribution of the content.
The prosecutor's office said that potential offenses from X include the distribution of "child pornography images," the generation of "sexual deepfakes," as well as the denial of the Holocaust. "The voluntary interviews with the managers should enable them to explain their position on the facts and, where applicable, the compliance measures envisaged," the office said, per NBC News.
Musk, as well as X's former CEO Linda Yaccarino, have been summoned to appear and testify regarding questions about the platform's measures to be in line with French law. It is against the law in France to deny the Holocaust.
Founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said of the raids, "French police is currently raiding X’s office in Paris. France is the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom (Telegram, X, TikTok…). Don’t be mistaken: this is not a free country."
European Union police are also "supporting the French authorities in this,” according to Europol spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth. The EU has pressured X as well as Musk for alleged "hate speech" on the platform. Last year, the EU fined the company around $140 million, alleging that X did not properly censor content the EU deemed to be "hate speech" and "misinformation."
At the time, Vice President JD Vance said, “Rumors swirling that the E.U. commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage."
