Elon Musk Refuses French Prosecutors' Request to Appear Over X Content

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[Financial News] Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X (formerly Twitter), has refused a request from French prosecutors to appear voluntarily. French authorities have been investigating a wide range of alleged crimes, including the spread of sexual exploitation material on X and the creation of deepfake images using the AI chatbot Grok.
\r\nOn the 20th local time, foreign media outlets including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the cybercrime unit of the Paris Prosecutor's Office had notified Musk to appear at a Paris court on April 20 for questioning, but he ultimately failed to show up. The summons also included former X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was in office during the period under investigation.
In a statement, the Paris Prosecutor's Office did not name Musk directly, but said it had "confirmed the absence of the summoned individuals" and emphasized that "the investigation will continue without disruption, regardless of whether the parties appear."
The French investigation into X began in January 2025 over allegations of political interference in France through the use of algorithms.
\r\nAs the scope of the probe expanded, additional serious criminal allegations were added.
\r\nUsing X's AI chatbot Grok, women’s and minors’ photos were allegedly altered into sexual videos and distributed without consent. The accusations also include abetting the spread of child sexual exploitation material and allowing the circulation of hateful content, including denial of Nazi Germany's mass murder of Jews during World War II.
\r\nSince then, X has faced regulatory and legal action not only in France but also in major countries around the world, including the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU).
Earlier in February, investigators from the Paris Prosecutor's Office raided X's Paris office as part of the probe.
Musk has strongly pushed back, calling the investigation a "political attack." In a previous post on his X account, he argued that the probe violated the First Amendment.
The U.S. government has also taken a negative view of France's actions. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) formally told French authorities in a letter that it would "not cooperate with this investigation." The DOJ criticized France for misusing the U.S. legal system, and Musk agreed, saying it was "something that must be stopped."
This is not the first time Musk has refused a summons from investigators. In September 2024, he also declined a court order to appear at the Los Angeles Superior Court in connection with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into his acquisition of Twitter.
\r\nX said it denies all allegations, calling the investigation "a distortion of French law and a disregard for due process," but pressure from European authorities is expected to intensify.
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jjyoon@fnnews.com Yoon Jae-jun Reporter