On Monday (21), Elon Musk’s social network X accused French prosecutors of starting a “criminal investigation with political motivation” that threatens the freedom of expression of its users, denying all accusations against it and claiming that it would not cooperate with the investigation.
Earlier this month, prosecutors intensified a preliminary investigation into the social media platform on suspicion of algorithmic bias and fraudulent data extraction.
Police can now conduct searches, staples and surveillance against musk and company executives, or call them to testify. If they do not comply, a judge may issue an arrest warrant.
“Based on what we know so far, X believes this investigation is distorting the French law to comply with a political agenda and ultimately restricts freedom of expression,” the X published in its global government affairs account.
As a result, X said it refused the Paris Public Prosecution Service request to “access to the X -Real -time recommendation algorithm of X … as we have the legal right to do.”
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to the accusations of political bias, but confirmed that he sent a court request to X on July 19, requesting exclusive access to his algorithm.
The company said it had offered a safe channel to share the information with the investigators, who would have confidential access to the data, but had not yet received an official response from the company.
Failure to comply with a judicial request may vary from fine to accusations of obstruction of justice.
Musk, a former US President Donald Trump, accused European governments of attacking freedom of expression and expressed support for some of the region’s ultra-right parties.
French investigation can deepen the divergence between Washington and European capitals about the type of speech allowed online, with high -ranking US authorities alleging censorship of right -wing voices worldwide.
The European Commission investigates the social network for violating digital transparency rules against illegal content, known as the Digital Services Law since the end of 2023.
The company criticized the fact that the investigation is conducted on charges of organized crime, which could allow the police to staple the personal devices of its employees.
The alleged crimes may have maximum penalties of up to 10 years, the Paris Prosecutor said.
