The US Department of Justice has expressed its support for social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, amidst an ongoing criminal investigation in France. The Justice Department has described the French inquiry as an attempt to embroil the United States in a politically sensitive legal matter aimed at improperly regulating the business operations of the platform.
The investigation was initiated in July, with French authorities accusing X of algorithm manipulation and fraudulent data extraction. This escalated in recent months when French officials conducted a raid on X’s Paris office and issued summonses for Musk, as well as Linda Yaccarino, the former CEO of X, to participate in interviews regarding the investigation.
In addition to the initial claims, French officials are reportedly looking into further allegations against X, including the dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and Holocaust denial. However, the French request for assistance from the US Department of Justice has not yielded cooperation.
In a letter to relevant parties, the DOJ articulated concerns about the nature of the investigation, stating that it is an effort to misuse the criminal legal framework in France to control a public forum that facilitates free expression, in a manner that contradicts the First Amendment rights in the United States.
A spokesperson from xAI, a company associated with Musk, expressed gratitude towards the Justice Department for its stance, asserting that the efforts by French prosecutors to compel interviews from their CEO and team were unwarranted. The spokesperson further emphasized that there is no wrongdoing on X’s part, labeling the investigation as baseless.
