US DOJ Blocks French Criminal Probe of X, Citing Free Speech Concerns

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has sided with X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, in a criminal investigation led by French authorities. The Justice Department has characterized the French probe as an attempt 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."

France launched its investigation into X in July, accusing the platform of manipulating its algorithm and engaging in "fraudulent data extraction." The probe escalated in recent months when French authorities raided X's Paris office and issued summonses for interviews to Musk and Linda Yaccarino, X's former CEO, scheduled for April 20.

According to The Wall Street Journal, French officials are also investigating X for additional charges, including the dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and Holocaust denial. However, France's request for assistance from the DOJ has been rejected.

The DOJ stated in a letter, as seen by WSJ:

"This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution."

An xAI official told The Wall Street Journal that the company is "grateful to the Justice Department for rejecting this effort by a prosecutor in Paris to compel our CEO and several employees to sit for interviews." The spokesperson for X also asserted that there was "no wrongdoing" and described the investigation as "baseless."