Authorities in Paris have initiated a search operation at the Paris offices of Elon Musk's X platform, linked to an investigation that began in January 2025. The action involves teams from the Paris cybercrime division and the national cybercrime unit, backed by Interpol, as revealed in a message from the Paris prosecutor's office shared on X. Representatives from X have not issued any response so far.
Concurrently, the Paris prosecutor's office has sent notices to Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino for optional questioning scheduled in Paris on April 20, 2026. Moving forward, the office stated it would cease using X for communications and shift to platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram.
This operation stems from a probe that has lasted almost a year, focusing on how X's algorithms may have interfered with an automated data processing system's performance, according to initial statements from the investigators. Such modifications allegedly boosted visibility for specific political materials, particularly those associated with Musk, without informing users—a potential violation of French regulations.
The formal start of the inquiry occurred in July, when Paris prosecutors introduced a further accusation involving the illicit retrieval of data from an automated system by a coordinated collective. In a later development, the case expanded to encompass aiding in the holding of child imagery with pedophilic traits, arising from content generated by Grok over the period from December 25, 2025, to January 1, 2026.
Back in July, X released a declaration asserting that the examination severely compromises the platform's right to fair legal proceedings and endangers users' privacy and expression freedoms. It rejected claims of algorithm tampering aimed at external meddling as entirely unfounded.
As of February 3, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. ET, X shared an extensive update via its Global Government Affairs profile, labeling the claims as groundless and firmly rejecting any misconduct. The statement portrayed the search as an overreach by authorities, intended for political gain instead of genuine investigative purposes.