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European investigations into Elon Musk’s social media network X are escalating fast.
Paris prosecutors’ cybercrime unit, along with Europol and French national police, raided X’s offices in the country on Tuesday. The city prosecutor’s office also announced in a statement that it has issued summonses to Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino for a hearing scheduled for April.
The raid is part of an investigation that began in January 2025, initially focused on suspected manipulation of X’s recommendation algorithm and illegal data extraction. Since then, the probe has widened to examine other possible violations, including complicity in the spread of pornographic images involving minors, the use of sexual deepfakes that infringe on people’s rights, and the circulation of Holocaust denial content.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo. However, in a post last summer, the company denied the initial allegations.
“French authorities have launched a politically-motivated criminal investigation into X over the alleged manipulation of its algorithm and alleged ‘fraudulent data extraction.’ X categorically denies these allegations,” the post said.
Still, France is far from the only government scrutinizing the platform.
Over in the U.K., the country’s online regulator Ofcom said Tuesday that its own investigation into sexualized deepfakes on X is progressing as a “matter of urgency.”
Ofcom opened that probe early last month after users on X were found using Grok, the platform’s AI chatbot, to generate sexualized images from photos posted by other users without their consent, including images involving minors.
On Tuesday, a separate U.K. regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, announced its own investigation into X and its parent company, xAI, over Grok’s role in generating such content.
“We have taken this step following reports that Grok has been used to generate non-consensual sexual imagery of individuals, including children,” the regulator said in a statement. “The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the European Commission announced last week that it has also opened an official probe into Grok’s sexual deepfakes.
Across the pond in the U.S., California Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month that his office has launched its own investigation into the issue.
For its part, X rolled out new measures last month aimed at curbing sexual deepfakes, following weeks of backlash and mounting government scrutiny around the world. However, those changes stop short of a platform-wide fix; instead, the company added layers of limited restrictions on how Grok can be used.
European investigations into Elon Musk’s social media network X are escalating fast.
Paris prosecutors’ cybercrime unit, along with Europol and French national police, raided X’s offices in the country on Tuesday. The city prosecutor’s office also announced in a statement that it has issued summonses to Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino for a hearing scheduled for April.
The raid is part of an investigation that began in January 2025, initially focused on suspected manipulation of X’s recommendation algorithm and illegal data extraction. Since then, the probe has widened to examine other possible violations, including complicity in the spread of pornographic images involving minors, the use of sexual deepfakes that infringe on people’s rights, and the circulation of Holocaust denial content.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo. However, in a post last summer, the company denied the initial allegations.
“French authorities have launched a politically-motivated criminal investigation into X over the alleged manipulation of its algorithm and alleged ‘fraudulent data extraction.’ X categorically denies these allegations,” the post said.
Still, France is far from the only government scrutinizing the platform.
Over in the U.K., the country’s online regulator Ofcom said Tuesday that its own investigation into sexualized deepfakes on X is progressing as a “matter of urgency.”
Ofcom opened that probe early last month after users on X were found using Grok, the platform’s AI chatbot, to generate sexualized images from photos posted by other users without their consent, including images involving minors.
On Tuesday, a separate U.K. regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, announced its own investigation into X and its parent company, xAI, over Grok’s role in generating such content.
“We have taken this step following reports that Grok has been used to generate non-consensual sexual imagery of individuals, including children,” the regulator said in a statement. “The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the European Commission announced last week that it has also opened an official probe into Grok’s sexual deepfakes.
Across the pond in the U.S., California Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month that his office has launched its own investigation into the issue.
For its part, X rolled out new measures last month aimed at curbing sexual deepfakes, following weeks of backlash and mounting government scrutiny around the world. However, those changes stop short of a platform-wide fix; instead, the company added layers of limited restrictions on how Grok can be used.
[analyse_source url=”https://gizmodo.com/paris-authorities-raid-the-offices-of-elon-musks-x-2000717234″]