Elon Musk’s social media platform X denied allegations by French authorities that it was part of a criminal investigation into alleged data tampering.
The company also said on Monday that the French investigation is “politically-motivated” and designed to “restrict free speech” and denied the allegations.
“French authorities have launched a politically-motivated criminal investigation into X over the alleged manipulation of its algorithm and alleged 'fraudulent data extraction,'” the company wrote on X.
In January, French prosecutors launched an investigation following allegations that X’s algorithm was being used for the purposes of foreign interference.
The first complaint was filed by a centrist member of parliament, Eric Bothorel, a member of President Emmanuel Macron's party.
Bothorel warned against "recent changes to the X algorithm, as well as apparent interference in its management" since Elon Musk acquired the company in 2022.
"Concerns about the impartiality'
He said there has been in "reduction in the diversity of voices and options" that go against a secure and respectful environment on the social media platform.
He blamed this on "a lack of clarity in criteria that led to algorithm changes and moderation decisions", and to "personal interventions from Elon Musk in the management of his platform".
In February, the French investigative media Le Canard Enchaine reported that the second complaint came from a cybersecurity director in the public administration.
The individual had reported a "major modification in the algorithm used by the X platform,” which had resulted in a huge amount of political content that is “hateful, racist, anti-LGBTQ (or) homophobic, and aims to skew democratic debate in France".
X said that it remained in the dark about what the allegations were but that “based on what we know so far, X believes that this investigation is distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech”.
It said that for these reasons, X would not hand over data, despite the prosecutor's demand.
X has also said that the experts who will review X’s algorithm are biased. The two experts are David Chavalarias, director of the Paris Complex Systems Institute (ISC-PIF) and Maziyar Panahi, an AI platform leader at ISC-PIF.
X said that Chavalarias runs a campaign called “Escape X,” which encourages users to leave the social media platform and that Panahi had in the past participated in research projects with Chavalarias that demonstrate open hostility towards X”.
“The involvement of these individuals raises serious concerns about the impartiality, fairness, and political motivations of the investigation, to put it charitably. A predetermined outcome is not a fair one,” X said.
Euronews Next has reached out to the prosecutors' office and X but did not receive a reply at the time of publication.
X owner Elon Musk has previously caused outcry by European politicians for commenting about domestic politics and publicly supporting Germany’s far-right AfD party.
