by Kofie Oppong Kyekyeku, Face2FaceAfrica.com
French prosecutors have called on Elon Musk to appear in Paris this week as part of a widening investigation into activity on the social platform X, with authorities examining allegations ranging from harmful content distribution to manipulation of digital systems.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino have been invited for voluntary questioning, while additional staff are expected to give statements as witnesses over the coming days. It is not yet confirmed whether either executive will attend. Requests for comment sent to X and Yaccarino’s current firm, eMed, went unanswered.
The investigation hinges on accusations that the platform helped spread child sexual abuse material and AI-generated deepfakes. Investigators are also assessing whether controversy linked to Grok, the artificial intelligence system developed by xAI, may have been deliberately amplified to inflate the valuation of Musk-linked ventures ahead of a major stock listing. French authorities have already notified U.S. regulators. Musk, reacting to reports that American officials declined to assist, posted on X, “This needs to stop.”
The summons follows a February search of X’s French offices, tied to an inquiry launched in January 2025 by the cybercrime division of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Both Musk and Yaccarino are being approached in their roles as company leaders during the period under review. Yaccarino led the platform from May 2023 to July 2025.
“These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to allow them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement,” prosecutors said. “At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that platform X complies with French law, insofar as it operates within the national territory.”
Officials added that the inquiry will proceed regardless of whether the two executives appear in person.
The case initially stemmed from a complaint by a French lawmaker who raised concerns that X’s algorithms may have skewed the functioning of automated data systems. It later broadened after Grok produced content accused of Holocaust denial and explicit synthetic imagery, the AP reported.
Among the suspected offences under review are complicity in distributing pornographic material involving minors, the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity, and coordinated manipulation of automated processing systems.
Grok, integrated into X, has faced global backlash this year for generating nonconsensual sexualised images upon user prompts. In one widely circulated post, the chatbot suggested that gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau were intended for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus,” a claim historically linked to Holocaust denial narratives. The system later retracted the statement, acknowledging the historical record that more than one million people were killed using Zyklon B at the site.
In March, French prosecutors alerted both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing that the controversy surrounding Grok’s outputs may have been engineered to artificially boost the value of X and xAI. They pointed to the planned June 2026 market debut of a new entity formed through the merger of SpaceX and xAI, at a time when X was reportedly losing traction.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. justice officials declined to support the French probe. In a letter cited by the newspaper, the Justice Department accused French authorities of misusing legal channels to interfere in the operations of an American company, warning that the request risked dragging the U.S. into a politically sensitive case.
French officials have not publicly responded to that development.
The investigation forms part of a broader push by Paris prosecutors to scrutinise major online platforms. Previous cases have targeted sites and messaging services accused of enabling illegal activity, including probes involving Pavel Durov and the encrypted app Telegram.
Separately, the prosecutor’s office has examined TikTok over concerns that its recommendation algorithms may expose vulnerable users to harmful content.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has also filed a fresh complaint against X, arguing that the platform’s policies enable the spread of disinformation.
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