French authorities, supported by Europol, conducted a raid on the Paris headquarters of social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on February 3, 2026. The operation is part of an expanding criminal investigation into alleged offenses including the spread of child sexual abuse material, AI-generated sexually explicit deepfakes, and Holocaust denial content on the platform.
The Paris Prosecutor's Office announced the raid, which stems from a preliminary investigation opened in January 2025. The probe initially focused on allegations that biased algorithms distorted X's automated data-processing systems. It escalated significantly following incidents involving Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk's xAI, which operates on X. Prosecutors allege Grok's "spicy mode" generated tens of thousands of sexualized deepfake images of women and children and posted content in French that denied the Holocaust.
In connection with the investigation, prosecutors have summoned X owner Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino for "voluntary interviews" scheduled for April 20. Other suspected crimes under investigation include "fraudulent extraction of data," "falsification," "operating of an illegal online platform" by an "organized group," and "denial of crimes against humanity."
Telegram founder Pavel Durov reacted strongly to the raid on X, posting, "French police is currently raiding X's office in Paris. France is the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom (Telegram, X, TikTok…). Don't be mistaken: this is not a free country." In a follow-up comment, Durov added, "Weaponising child protection to legitimise censorship and mass surveillance is disgusting. These people will stop at nothing."
Durov's defense comes as he himself faces similar legal pressure in France. He was arrested in August 2024 and questioned as part of an investigation into allegations that Telegram was complicit in criminal activity by allowing the sharing of illegal content and facilitating illicit transactions.
X issued a statement condemning the raid as "an abusive act of law enforcement theater designed to achieve illegitimate political objectives." The company denied all allegations and characterized the action as politically motivated censorship.
The incident has triggered wider regulatory scrutiny. The European Union has already fined X €120 million for digital regulation violations and launched a separate investigation last month. The UK's Information Commissioner's Office and media regulator Ofcom have also opened probes. Internationally, Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Grok, with Malaysia announcing legal action against X and xAI.
