French prosecutors raided X’s Paris headquarters on Tuesday as a part of a widening investigation into alleged youngster sexual abuse imagery, AI-generated deepfakes, and Holocaust denial on the platform.
The raid, supported by Europol, marks a big escalation in European regulators’ crackdown on Elon Musk’s social media empire. Prosecutors have summoned Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino for “voluntary interviews” scheduled for April 20.
Sponsored
Investigation Scope
The Paris prosecutors’ cybercrime unit opened a preliminary investigation in January 2025, initially specializing in allegations that biased algorithms on X distorted automated data-processing methods. The probe expanded considerably after Musk’s AI chatbot Grok generated content material that allegedly denied the Holocaust and produced sexually express deepfakes.
Costs beneath investigation embrace complicity in possessing and spreading youngster sexual abuse imagery and sexually express deepfakes. Prosecutors are additionally probing denial of crimes in opposition to humanity and manipulation of automated knowledge processing methods as a part of an organized group.
The prosecutors’ workplace introduced the continuing searches on X itself. It then declared it was leaving the platform, calling on followers to hitch it on different social media companies.
Grok on the Middle of Controversy
The xAI-developed chatbot Grok sparked international outrage final month. Its “spicy mode” generated tens of hundreds of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake pictures in response to person requests.
The chatbot additionally posted Holocaust denial content material in French. It claimed fuel chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau had been designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B in opposition to typhus” quite than mass homicide—language lengthy related to Holocaust deniers.
Sponsored
Whereas Grok later reversed itself and acknowledged the error, the harm was completed. Malaysia and Indonesia turned the primary international locations to dam Grok completely, with Malaysia saying authorized motion in opposition to X and xAI.
X Fires Again
In an announcement posted by itself platform, X condemned the raid as “an abusive act of legislation enforcement theater designed to realize illegitimate political targets quite than advance reputable legislation enforcement targets rooted within the truthful and neutral administration of justice.”
The corporate denied all allegations, characterizing the French motion as politically motivated censorship.
Sponsored
Durov Weighs In
Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who himself faces comparable fees in France after his August 2024 arrest, defended X and attacked French authorities.
“French police is at present raiding X’s workplace in Paris. France is the one nation on the planet that’s criminally persecuting all social networks that give individuals a point of freedom (Telegram, X, TikTok…). Don’t be mistaken: this isn’t a free nation,” Durov wrote on X.
In a follow-up remark, he added: “Weaponising youngster safety to legitimise censorship and mass surveillance is disgusting. These individuals will cease at nothing.”
Sponsored
Combined Reactions
Durov’s characterization drew each help and pushback on-line. Some customers echoed his framing, with one calling France’s strategy a “Digital Autocracy starter pack” and describing Durov’s arrest as “the warning” of issues to return.
Others urged nuance. “Platforms like Telegram and X aren’t simply ‘freedom instruments’. They can be utilized to unfold hate, coordinate violence, and destabilise societies,” one person wrote. “Decreasing it to ‘free nation vs not free’ misses a variety of the truth on either side.”
Regulatory Stress Mounts
France isn’t alone in scrutinizing Musk’s platforms. Britain’s Data Commissioner’s Workplace opened formal investigations into how X and xAI dealt with private knowledge when growing Grok, whereas UK media regulator Ofcom continues a separate probe that might take months.
The European Union launched its personal investigation final month following the deepfake incident and has already fined X €120 million for violations of digital laws, together with misleading blue-checkmark practices.
The authorized stress comes as Musk consolidates his tech holdings. SpaceX introduced Monday that it acquired xAI in a deal that will mix Grok, X, and the satellite tv for pc communications firm Starlink beneath one company umbrella—a transfer that might complicate regulatory oversight throughout a number of jurisdictions.