A French investigation into the ELON Musk’s social media platform deepened on Friday, when the Paris prosecutor’s office said he had recruited the police to investigate suspicion of algorithms abuse and fraudulent data extraction by the company or its executives.
The measure adds to the pressure on Musk, a former ally of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who accused European governments of attacking freedom of expression and has also expressed his support for some of the extreme right parties of the region.
The French police could perform searches, telephone listening and surveillance against Ejizcle and X Executives, or convene them to testify. If they do not comply, a judge could issue an international arrest warrant.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Paris prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation in January, after receiving complaints from alleged foreign interference from an X of a legislator and a senior French official, said the prosecutor of Paris, Laure Beccuau, in a statement.
On July 9, after the preliminary findings provided by French investigators and public institutions, they asked the police to investigate X “as a legal entity and through individual persons.”
The alleged crimes are “organized interference with the operation of an automated data processing system” and “organized fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system”.
The latest investigation of Paris prosecutors on the powerful technological figures can deepen a crack between Washington and Europe’s capitals on what type of speech is allowed online.
Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging application, born in Russia, is under judicial supervision in France after being arrested last year and put under formal investigation for alleged crimes organized in the application. He denies guilt.
The Arrest of Durov, which Musk criticized, lit a debate on the freedom of expression that has been taken by Trump’s senior officials.
Musk has used X to personally support the parties and causes of the right in France, Germany and Great Britain. After months in Lockstep with Trump, he recently broke with the president about his federal budget, and is now launching his own political party.
