France Summons Elon Musk, Raids X Offices in Cybercrime Probe
French authorities have summoned billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk for a voluntary interview and carried out a search of the French offices of social media platform X as part of an ongoing cybercrime investigation, the Paris public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday.
The operation, conducted with support from EU police agency Europol, is connected to a probe launched in January 2025 over allegations that X’s algorithm may have been used to influence French political discourse.
In a statement, prosecutors said:
“A SEARCH IS BEING CONDUCTED TODAY AT THE FRENCH PREMISES OF THE X PLATFORM.”
They added that summonses for voluntary interviews scheduled for April 20, 2026, in Paris were sent to Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, describing them as the platform’s de facto and de jure managers at the time of the alleged incidents. Yaccarino stepped down in July 2025 after two years in the role.
Paris cybercrime prosecutors had earlier requested a police investigation in July 2025, following complaints filed in January 2025. The complaints alleged offences including manipulation and extraction of data from automated systems, reportedly carried out “as part of a criminal gang.”
One of the complaints was submitted by Eric Bothorel, a lawmaker from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party. He accused X of reducing the diversity of political opinions and pointed to what he described as Elon Musk’s direct personal involvement in platform management following his 2022 takeover.
According to prosecutors, the scope of the investigation was later widened after additional reports raised concerns about X’s AI chatbot, Grok, including allegations that it contributed to the spread of Holocaust denial content and sexual deepfake material.
X has strongly denied the allegations. In January 2025, the company’s France director, Laurent Buanec, defended the platform, stating that X operates under “strict, clear and public rules” designed to combat hate speech and disinformation. The company has also described the investigation as politically motivated.
The probe has attracted international attention. The United States condemned the investigation in July, warning it would defend the free speech rights of Americans against what it called foreign censorship. Separately, the European Union in late January opened its own investigation into X over Grok’s alleged generation of sexualised deepfake images involving women and minors.
The EU action comes despite repeated warnings from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has threatened retaliation against what it views as tech regulations that restrict free speech and unfairly target American companies.
