'Politically Motivated?' Why is Elon Musk's X Under Investigation in France?
Social network X, owned by Elon Musk, is in the crosshairs of the French justice system. X has categorically refused to cooperate with the French authorities, accusing the investigation of being "politically motivated". But how and why did this legal battle begin?
The French investigation is seeking to determine whether X's algorithm has been modified for political purposes. The aim is to determine whether or not certain content on X has been favored to reflect political opinions or serve certain ideological currents.
Altering the algorithm in an "organized gang" fashion
It all started with two alerts, including one from MP Éric Bothorel, in January 2025. These warnings concerned the apparent proliferation of nauseating political content, as well as apparent interference in the management of X's algorithm since its acquisition by Elon Musk.
These reports led to the opening of an investigation last February, under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a European regulation that imposes greater transparency on major platforms. More specifically, the investigation concerns the offences of "alteration of the operation of an automated data processing system in an organized gang" and "fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system in an organized gang".
As part of this investigation, the French authorities sent X a request on July 19 for technical access to its algorithm. In a statement published on Monday July 21, X refused to cooperate. The platform describes the investigation as "politically motivated", and questions the impartiality of the experts appointed by the public prosecutor's office. It also contests the use of the notion of "organized gang", deemed disproportionate.
Political cabal or concrete legal basis?
On the French side, the Paris public prosecutor's office maintains that its request is based on article 40 of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which allows the competent authorities to ask very large platforms for access to data necessary to assess their compliance. The response time must be reasonable, and the technical framework secure.
X has not responded either to judicial injunctions or to requests from European researchers with similar access rights.
Based on the information available to date, X believes that this investigation is misusing French law to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, to restrict freedom of expression," X posted on its Global Government Affairs account.
The French authorities have not commented on X's accusations of bias. However, according to the French newspaper Le Monde, the Paris public prosecutor's office clarified that its request, decried by X, was for "the communication of its algorithm (and not access to private data)".It also indicated that it had offered X a secure channel for transmitting information to investigators, who would have had confidential access to the data.
A challenge that goes beyond France
The tug-of-war between X and the French justice system could have repercussions far beyond France's borders. It tests the robustness of the DSA in the face of players like X, who claim absolute freedom of operation.
At this stage, X is sticking to its guns. But judicial and regulatory pressure could force the platform to review its strategy in Europe, at the risk of exposing its internal practices to closer scrutiny.
Source: X
