French prosecutors have conducted a search of the Paris offices of social media platform X and issued a summons for its owner, billionaire Elon Musk, as part of a broadening investigation into alleged cybercrime linked to the company’s operations.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the raid is being carried out by “the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, the national police cyber unit and Europol,” which signalled a coordinated law-enforcement effort targeting the U.S.-based platform’s French operations.
In an accompanying statement, prosecutors disclosed that Musk and X’s former chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, were summoned for voluntary questioning “in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events”. Yaccarino resigned as CEO in July 2025.
The inquiry was initially opened in January 2025 after a complaint by lawmaker Éric Bothorel, who raised concerns about alleged bias in X’s algorithms and “apparent interference” in the platform’s management since Musk’s acquisition in 2022.
Prosecutors say the probe now focuses on “alleged complicity” in a range of serious offences linked to activity on the network. These include the dissemination of child sexual abuse material, the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes, the denial of crimes against humanity, and alleged manipulation of an automated data processing system “as part of an organised group”.
The investigation later widened following reports about the conduct of X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which has been accused of engaging in Holocaust denial and circulating sexually explicit deepfake content.
X has rejected the allegations and criticised the inquiry. In a previous statement it said it did not intend to comply with certain demands by French authorities, describing the investigation as “politically motivated” and asserting that it was aimed at limiting free speech. The company maintained it would “remain committed to defending its fundamental rights, protecting user data and resisting political censorship.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office has not yet indicated when questioning of Musk and Yaccarino will occur or how long the wider investigation is expected to continue.
