‘Foreign interference': France launches criminal investigation into X; to look into algorithmic manipulation and unlawful data gathering
The Paris Prosecutor said on Friday that it has launched a criminal investigation into X, the Elon Musk-owned social networking site, over allegations that it manipulated its content to enable 'foreign interference.
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Magistrate Laure Beccuau said on Friday that prosecutors launched an investigation and were looking to determine whether the social media giant violated French law by manipulating its algorithms and unlawfully gathering user data. The company will be under investigation along with its senior officials following two complaints launched in January.
The alleged crimes are not yet categorised as perpetrated by 'foreign interference' under a 2024 law, but that could change for the investigation.
The complaints made in January noted "supposed use of the X algorithm for purposes of foreign interference," as per her office, reported AP.
The first complaint was filed by Eric Bothorel, a centrist member of the parliament, who warned of "recent changes to the X algorithm, as well as apparent interference in its management since Elon Musk acquired". Bothorel is a member of France's president, Emmanuel Macron's, party.
He noted a lack of clarity in the criteria that led to algorithm changes and moderation decisions, and personal interventions from Elon Musk in the management of his platform. "All of this highlighted a real danger and a threat for our democracies,' he said.
A cybersecurity director working in the public administration lodged the second complaint as per French Investigative Weekly Le Canard Enchaine. 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,' the complaint read.
Following antisemitic and racist responses from Grok, the AI chatbot that responds to X users, two French parliamentarians referred the platform to France's digital regulator, Arcom, on Thursday, as reported by Politico.
In a separate investigation, the European Commission has been looking into X for over two years, on the speculation that it has been breaching its landmark platforms regulation, the Digital Services Act.
While misinformation was already under scrutiny, the Commission broadened the investigation in January to examine X's algorithms after Musk live-streamed an interview with far-right German party leader Alice Weidel, as reported by Politico.
The director of X in France, Laurent Buanec, said on January 22 that the algorithm was "built in a way to avoid offering you hateful content". He said X has "strict, clear and public rules to protect the platform from hateful discourse."
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