The Paris prosecutor's office announced on Friday that the social media platform X is under investigation by French police.
At this stage, X is primarily accused of two offenses -- "impairing the operation of an automated data processing system by an organized group," and "fraudulently extracting data from an automated data processing system by an organized group," Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a press release.
The investigation has been assigned to the Directorate-General of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN), Beccuau added.
In January, the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office received two formal complaints, submitted respectively by a member of the French parliament and a senior official at a French public institution, Beccuau said, adding that both complaints alleged that X's algorithm had been exploited for the purpose of foreign interference.
The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed in February that it was examining these complaints, before announcing on Friday that it had opened the investigation "based on verifications, input from French researchers, and information provided by various public institutions."
Laurent Buanec, CEO of X France, stated on the platform in January that X "has strict, clear, and public rules aimed at protecting the platform from hate speech," adding that it "fights disinformation" and that its algorithm "is designed to avoid recommending hateful content."
According to a report by French newspaper Le Monde, the whistleblower suspects that X has manipulated its content recommendation algorithm to deliberately amplify far-right content and increase the visibility of specific candidates during recent elections in Europe.
The report said that the investigation is focused on two alleged offenses classified under the French Penal Code as serious cybercrimes, each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros.
French police launch investigation into social media platform X
French police launch investigation into social media platform X
