DOJ refuses to help French authorities in criminal probe of X
The US Department of Justice is siding with X, as the Elon Musk-owned social media platform has an ongoing criminal investigation in France. As first reported The Wall Street Journalthe Justice Department called the French investigation “an attempt to involve the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at unfairly regulating, through legal action, the commercial activities of a social media platform.”
France launched its investigation into X in July, accusing the platform of manipulating its algorithm and “fraudulent data extraction.” A few months later, French authorities raided X’s Paris office and summoned Musk and Linda Yaccarino, the former CEO of X, for interviews on April 20 as part of the investigation. According to WSJFrench authorities are also investigating X for other charges, including the distribution of CSAM images and Holocaust denial. However, France’s latest move to seek help from the Justice Ministry has hit a roadblock.
“This investigation seeks to use the criminal justice system in France to regulate a public space allowing the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the DOJ wrote in a letter, seen by WSJ.
An xAI official said WSJ that he is “grateful to the Department of Justice for rejecting this attempt by a Paris prosecutor to force our CEO and several employees to undergo interviews.” The company spokesperson also said there was “no wrongdoing” and that it was a “baseless investigation.”
