Overview

• On July 21, X publicly condemned the criminal investigation into its recommendation algorithm as politically motivated and declined to hand over its code or user data
• The case was elevated to a criminal probe on July 9 and is being handled by the Parquet de Paris cybercrime unit alongside the national gendarmerie
• French prosecutors allege organized tampering with X’s automated recommendation system and fraudulent extraction of user data
• Authorities formally requested access to X’s recommendation algorithm plus all real-time publication data, demands the company says it will not meet
• The investigation follows two January referrals, including one by MP Eric Bothorel, over suspected foreign-interference use of algorithmic changes since Musk’s acquisition