French prosecutors have launched a police investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, over allegations of data tampering and fraud.
The Paris prosecutor's office announced on Friday that a branch of the French gendarmerie is conducting the inquiry. The investigation is specifically examining two alleged offences: "organised tampering with the functioning of an automated data processing system" and "organised fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system."
The probe stems from information provided in January to the prosecutor's cybercrimes unit by two individuals – a member of parliament and a senior official in a French government institution, neither of whom have been identified. These individuals alleged the suspected use of X’s algorithm for "the purposes of foreign interference." However, the prosecutor's office has not detailed the alleged interference or how the algorithm was purportedly used.
The investigation targets both the platform and unnamed individuals. The decision to open the police inquiry was made this week, following the prosecutor's own "verifications" and additional information received from French researchers and "various public institutions." Details of the alleged wrongdoing remain undisclosed.
The Associated Press has emailed X's press office, seeking comment.
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Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.
