X Under French Investigation for Alleged Data Tampering and 'Foreign Interference'
Elon Musk's social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), is now the subject of a formal police investigation in France, facing serious allegations of data tampering and fraud. The Paris prosecutor's office announced on Friday, July 11, 2025, that a branch of the French gendarmerie is leading the inquiry, targeting both the platform itself and unnamed individuals.
The investigation 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 publicly identified. These complaints specifically allege the suspected use of X's algorithm for the "purposes of foreign interference." While the prosecutor's office has not yet detailed the precise nature of this alleged interference or how the algorithm was purportedly used, the implications are significant.
The probe is specifically examining two alleged offenses under French law:
"Organised tampering with the functioning of an automated data processing system"
"Organised fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system"
The decision to open this police inquiry was made this week, following the prosecutor's own "verifications" and additional information gathered from French researchers and various public institutions.
One of the complaints, reportedly filed by centrist Member of Parliament Eric Bothorel, a member of President Emmanuel Macron's party, warned of "recent changes to the X algorithm, as well as apparent interference in its management since Elon Musk acquired" the company in 2022. Bothorel's complaint highlighted a "major modification in the algorithm used by the X platform, which today offers a huge amount of political content that is hateful, racist, anti-LGBTQ (or) homophobic, and aims to skew democratic debate in France."
This French investigation adds to a growing list of regulatory scrutiny for X in Europe. The European Commission has been investigating X for nearly two years over suspected breaches of its landmark Digital Services Act (DSA), particularly concerning the spread of misinformation. That investigation was broadened in January to include X's algorithms after Musk controversially live-streamed an interview with far-right German party leader Alice Weidel. Furthermore, just last Thursday, two French parliamentarians referred X to France's digital regulator, Arcom, following antisemitic and racist responses generated by Grok, X's AI chatbot.
X's press office has been contacted for comment regarding the French investigation. The outcome of this probe could have significant ramifications for the platform's operations in France and potentially set a precedent for other European nations concerned about algorithmic manipulation and content moderation on major social media platforms.
