France threatens criminal charges if Musk doesn't appear for questioning.
Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav French prosecutors yesterday opened a criminal investigation into Elon Musk and X, escalating a probe into sexual images of minors and other alleged illegal content on Musk’s social network.
The action came three months after French law enforcement authorities 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.
The earlier request to interview Musk and Yaccarino was described as voluntary. Authorities are now seeking to compel them to appear for questioning with the threat of criminal charges. In addition to sexual images of minors, the investigation involves Grok’s dissemination of Holocaust-denial claims and sexually explicit deepfakes .
“Prosecutors said Thursday that the probe was now an official criminal investigation,” The Wall Street Journal wrote . Musk and Yaccarino were invited “to respond to preliminary charges against them. If either Musk or Yaccarino fails to appear, they can be slapped with the preliminary criminal charges in their absence, the prosecutors said.” The office of Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced the move in a press release yesterday. The office said it asked investigating judges to charge X Corp., xAI, Musk, and Yaccarino “by summoning them for this purpose and to gather their comments, or, in the event of non-compliance, by issuing a warrant equivalent to an indictment,” Le Monde reported .
The investigation “aims to uphold the law and to protect individuals who have been victims of criminal offenses, both online and in real life,” the prosecutor’s office said. X previously “refused to comply with a court order to hand over its algorithm,” according to Le Monde.
“This is a new stage in the proceedings,” MP Eric Bothorel was quoted as saying in the Le Monde article. “I do not think that failing to appear for a judicial summons was a good defense strategy. I am pleased that the justice system in my country is taking this issue seriously.” Bothorel made a report to prosecutors that led to the opening of a preliminary investigation in January 2025, Le Monde said.
The process may be nowhere near the finish line. In France, “once preliminary charges have been filed, an investigating magistrate conducts an investigation that can last months or even years before deciding whether to send the accused to trial or drop the case,” the WSJ wrote.
After the raid in February, X called the probe “a politicized criminal investigation” and “an abusive act of law enforcement theater designed to achieve illegitimate political objectives rather than advance legitimate law enforcement goals rooted in the fair and impartial administration of justice.” Musk called it “a political attack.” The US Justice Department last month told French authorities that they would not help them investigate Musk and X, and accused them of trying to “entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.” Beccuau’s office has said the potential crimes being investigated include complicity in possession and distribution of pornographic images of minors; infringement of personal image rights via sexual deepfakes; denial of crimes against humanity; insecure handling of personal data; and operation of an online platform to facilitate illicit transactions.
Jon Brodkin Senior IT Reporter Jon Brodkin Senior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry.
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