Big bang in Paris: Raid at X – summons for Elon Musk

Accusations of Holocaust denial

The Paris public prosecutor’s office has been investigating X for around a year because of allegations that algorithms in the social network were changed to give more attention to right-wing extremist content. There have also recently been allegations of Holocaust denial and sexualized images. This involves images of women and children created by the AI ​​chatbot Grok, so-called deepfakes. Deepfakes are videos, images or audio files created with the help of AI that appear deceptively real, but are not.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, employees of the European police authority Europol were also present during the raid on the X premises. The public prosecutor’s office also announced that it would withdraw from Platform X. In the future we will communicate via LinkedIn and Instagram. LinkedIn belongs to Microsoft, Instagram to Facebook parent Meta.

Paris wants Platform X to operate in accordance with the law

The investigation took a constructive approach and aimed to ensure that Platform X operated in France in accordance with French law, said Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The subpoena of Musk and Yaccarino is intended to give them the opportunity to present their position and, if necessary, the planned measures to comply with the regulations.

Cautious step for an interrogation

The public prosecutor’s decision to summon Musk and the ex-director to a free hearing is a comparatively cautious step for an interrogation in France. A suspect is not taken into police custody for the duration of his interrogation and can leave the interrogation site at any time of his own free will. Witnesses also have the opportunity to be questioned freely.

The public prosecutor’s office did not specify what status Musk and Yaccarino have in the investigation. Both would be summoned in their capacity as de facto and legal directors of Platform X at the time of the allegations. The public prosecutor added that employees of the platform should also be summoned as witnesses from April 20th to 24th.

No response from X to search and summons yet

When asked, Platform Last summer, X had already accused the French authorities of “a politically motivated criminal investigation” in a long statement and categorically rejected all allegations. The investigation threatened “our users’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression.” X is committed to defending its fundamental rights, protecting user data and “resisting political censorship.”

Pressure also from the EU on X

Recently, the EU also increased the pressure on Platform X. In the course of investigations, the EU Commission asked the US company at the beginning of the year not to destroy internal documents on the artificial intelligence Grok, but to keep them until the end of the year. There are doubts as to whether the company adheres to European digital laws. An EU Commission spokesman emphasized at the beginning of January: “We have observed how Grok has generated anti-Semitic content and, more recently, sexual depictions of children. This is illegal. This is unacceptable.”

Deactivating Grok in the EU is not the aim of the EU Commission and is more of a last resort. “We are not here to tell citizens which platform is safer or better to use,” the spokesman said.

The EU is already pursuing several cases against Musk’s platform

Several investigations and proceedings are already underway against Musk’s Platform X based on European digital laws. It was only at the beginning of December that the EU imposed a fine of 120 million euros on Musk’s online platform for lack of transparency. The US company could face further penalties. The European internet watchdogs have also been targeting X since December 2023 because the platform is suspected of not doing enough against illegal content or disinformation.

In view of the investigations that have been ongoing for years, critics have long accused the EU of not enforcing its digital rules consistently enough. At the same time, the US government of President Donald Trump claims that Brussels is practicing censorship. Shortly before Christmas, Washington imposed entry bans on former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and other Europeans in response to European measures. Breton is an architect of EU digital laws.

Investigations also in Great Britain

Meanwhile, in Great Britain, the data protection commissioner opened an investigation into sexualized images and videos by the AI ​​chatbot Grok on the X platform. The move follows reports of Grok creating such images without the consent of those affected, including children, a statement from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously harshly condemned the images. “It’s a disgrace. It’s disgusting. And it shouldn’t be tolerated.” In the UK, distributing intimate photos without the consent of the person concerned is illegal. This also applies to images generated or manipulated using AI.

In response to global outrage over the affair, X initially restricted access to Grok’s imaging features to paying customers. The platform also emphasized deleting illegal content. However, according to Reuters investigations, Grok continues to undress people in uploaded images. This happens even if the AI ​​is explicitly informed that the person depicted does not agree to this image manipulation. In response to a request for comment on the results of the research, Grok developer xAI again responded with the sentence: “Established media lies.”