A French probe into Elon Musk's social media platform X deepened on Friday, when the Paris prosecutor's office said it had enlisted police to investigate suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by the company or its executives.
The move adds to the pressure on Musk, a former ally of U.S. President Donald Trump who has accused European governments of attacking free speech and has also voiced support for some of the region's far-right parties.
French police could conduct searches, wiretaps and surveillance against Musk and X executives, or summon them to testify. If they do not comply, a judge could issue an international arrest warrant.
Paris prosecutors launched a preliminary probe in January, after receiving complaints of alleged foreign interference by X from a lawmaker and a senior French official, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
On July 9, after preliminary findings provided by researchers and French public institutions, they asked police to investigate X "as both a legal entity and through individual persons".
The alleged crimes are "organised interference with the functioning of an automated data processing system" and "organised fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system".
Paris prosecutors' latest investigation of powerful tech figures may deepen a rift between Washington and European capitals over what sort of discourse is permitted online.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of the Telegram messaging app, is under judicial supervision in France after being arrested last year and placed under formal investigation for alleged organised crime on the app. He denies guilt.
Durov's arrest, which Musk criticised, ignited a debate about free speech that has been taken up by senior Trump officials.
Musk has used X to personally support right-wing parties and causes in France, Germany and Britain. After months in lockstep with Trump, he recently broke with the president over his federal budget, and he is now launching his own political party.
