French prosecutors yesterday launched a criminal investigation against Elon Musk and
The action came three months after French law enforcement officials raided X’s Paris office and summoned Musk for questioning. Prosecutors wanted to interview Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino in April, but they did not appear.
Musk and Yaccarino’s earlier requests for interviews were said to be voluntary. Authorities are now trying to force him to appear for questioning by threatening him with criminal charges. In addition to sexual images of minors, the investigation includes the dissemination of Holocaust-denial claims and sexually explicit deepfakes by Grok.
The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Prosecutors said Thursday that the investigation is now an official criminal investigation.” Musk and Yaccarino “were invited to answer to the preliminary charges against them. Prosecutors said that if either Musk or Yaccarino failed to appear, they could be charged with preliminary criminal charges in their absence.”
The office of Paris public prosecutor Laure Becu announced the move in a press release yesterday. As Le Monde reports, the office said it asked the investigating judges to charge X Corp,
“The purpose of the investigation is to uphold the law and protect individuals who have been victims of criminal crimes online and in real life,” the prosecutor’s office said. According to Le Monde, X had previously “refused to comply with a court order to hand over its algorithms.”
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