France authorities summon ELON MUSK after raid on X offices in cybercrime probe

Wednesday, February 4, 2026 - French authorities have summoned billionaire 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 the support of EU police agency Europol, is linked to a probe launched in January 2025 into 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 Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino, describing them as the platform’s de facto and de jure managers at the time of the alleged incidents.

Yaccarino stepped down as CEO in July last year after serving two years in the role.

Paris cybercrime prosecutors had earlier requested a police investigation in July 2025 following complaints filed in January of the same year. The complaints alleged offences including the manipulation and extraction of data from automated systems, allegedly carried out “as part of a criminal gang.”

One of the complaints was lodged by Eric Bothorel, a lawmaker from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party. He accused the platform of reducing diversity of opinions and pointed to what he described as Musk’s personal interventions in X’s management following his takeover of the company in 2022.

According to prosecutors, the investigation was later expanded after further reports raised concerns about the role of X’s AI chatbot, Grok, in spreading Holocaust denial content and sexual deepfake material on the platform.

X has rejected the allegations. In January 2025, the company’s France director, Laurent Buanec, defended the platform, insisting it operates under “strict, clear and public rules” designed to combat hate speech and disinformation. The platform has also described the investigation as “politically motivated.”

The probe has drawn international attention. The United States condemned the investigation in July, warning it would defend the free speech rights of Americans against what it described as foreign censorship. Separately, the European Union in late January opened its own investigation into X over Grok’s 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 enforcement of tech regulations that restrict free speech and unfairly target American companies.