French judicial authorities have intensified scrutiny of the X social network as part of a widening inquiry into the platform’s governance and content moderation practices.
Summary
X French offices searched in cybercrime probe
The French offices of the social network X, owned by Elon Musk, were searched on Tuesday, February 3, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced. Moreover, the operation was led by the cybercrime division of the Paris public prosecutor’s office with the national cyber unit of the gendarmerie and Europol.
According to the prosecutor’s office, “a search was carried out (…) by the cybercrime division of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, with the national cyber unit of the gendarmerie and Europol, as part of the investigation opened in January 2025.” However, the office also stated that it will no longer post on the social network.
Elon Musk summons Paris and former executives targeted
At the same time, the prosecutor’s office confirmed it had sent summonses to Elon Musk, the owner of the social network, and to Linda Yaccarino, the group’s former CEO. They are being called “in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the facts,” the statement said.
The magistrates wish to hear them in a voluntary interview on April 20, 2026, in Paris. Moreover, company employees have also been summoned “to be heard as witnesses” between April 20 and 24, underlining the breadth of the Paris prosecutor investigation into the platform’s operations.
Origins of the case and algorithm change allegations
The prosecutor’s office opened its initial investigation following a report filed on January 12, 2025, by deputy Eric Bothorel (Côtes-d’Armor, Renaissance). In a letter released in February 2025, the parliamentarian expressed “his serious concerns regarding recent algorithm changes on the platform, as well as apparent interference in its management since its acquisition by Elon Musk.” These concerns have since fueled algorithm change allegations around the platform.
A second, similar report was filed by a cybersecurity director working in the civil service, who denounced changes to X’s algorithm that allegedly led to an overrepresentation of “repugnant political content.” That said, these early warnings laid the groundwork for an expanded legal probe into how the platform’s systems were being steered.
An expanded investigation into illegal platform operation
The investigation was initially opened for running an illegal online platform in an organized group, fraudulent data extraction and falsification of the functioning of an automated data processing system. Moreover, it has been gradually broadened as new elements were discovered, deepening the legal risks for Social network X and its leadership.
The specialized J3 section of the Paris prosecutor’s office has been investigating since November 2025 for “complicity in possessing images of minors of a child pornography nature,” and “complicity in dissemination, offering or making available in an organized group” of such content. However, these suspicions focus on how the platform handled child sexual abuse material.
Sharp NCMEC reporting drop on child sexual abuse images
The Paris prosecutor’s office discovered that a change in the tool for detecting child sexual abuse content in 2025 “resulted in a significant drop in reports made by X” of this type of image. “Between June and October 2025, there was an 81.4% decrease in reports concerning France sent by X to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding child sexual abuse,” the prosecutor’s office added.
This sharp NCMEC reporting drop has become a central element of the inquiry into child sexual abuse reports on the platform. Moreover, investigators are trying to determine whether technical or managerial decisions within the company directly contributed to the fall in alerts.
Grok AI image controversy and non-consensual nudes
In January, many internet users also complained about the distribution on the social network, by the Grok account — which any user can solicit — of fake nude photos generated by the tool without the consent of the targeted individuals, mainly women. That said, these complaints added a new dimension to concerns over automated content generation on the platform.
A report by the NGO AI Forensics published in early January analyzed 20,000 images generated by Grok between December 25, 2025 and January 1, and found that more than half depicted scantily clad people. Some of these images depicted persons who appeared to be minors, contents that could amount to child sexual abuse images. Moreover, regarding the distribution of nude images of individuals without their consent, an investigation has been opened for “violation of the representation of the person.”
Negationist content and denial of crimes against humanity
The investigation is also looking into “denial of crimes against humanity” following the dissemination of negationist statements by the Grok account on the platform. However, the probe will have to determine how such content was generated, surfaced and moderated, and whether any legal responsibilities can be clearly attributed.
X had not responded to requests from Le Monde at the time of publication. A later correction, dated February 3 at 12:15, clarified the date on which the investigation into X was broadened to include other offenses, underscoring the evolving nature of the case.
Overall, the widening French investigation into the x social network, its leadership and its automated tools highlights growing regulatory pressure on large social platforms over governance, harmful content and algorithmic accountability.
