France launches criminal investigation of X’s so-called algorithm “manipulation”
France is investigating whether X manipulates its algorithms and engages in “fraud data extraction”. Prosecutors are investigating whether social media platforms are engaged in election interventions. They launched an investigation on July 11 after the January report. It tags X as an “organized gang”.
X’s Global Government Affairs Account publishes a harsh breakdown of France’s “political motivational criminal investigation” and its refusal to cooperate.
The French government asked X to provide “suggested algorithms and real-time data on all user posts on the platform”. France is using multiple experts to view this information. One is David Chavalarias, director of the Institute for Integrated Systems in Paris (ISC-PIF), which led the “Escape X” movement. Maziyar Panahi, an AI engineer at ISC-PIF, worked on a research project with Chavalarias, “expressing open hostility to X”.
Not surprisingly, X was not satisfied with the participation of Chavalarias and Panahi, claiming that this could mean a scheduled result. As a result, X refused to provide the required access to the French authorities.
X said in the statement that the investigation led by MP Éric Butorel said: “X undermines X’s fundamental rights and threatens our users’ rights to privacy and freedom of speech. Mr. Budrell accused X of manipulating its algorithm for “foreign interventions” which is a totally false allegation.”
