Billionaire Elon Musk’s X has come under the scrutiny of prosecutors in France over possible algorithmic bias, according to reports.
The development came on Friday after the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it had launched a probe into X.
According to the prosecutor, on January 12, they were approached by a lawmaker who raised concerns that X might have disrupted the functioning of an automated data processing system, saying the platform was using “biased algorithms”.
“Prosecutors and specialised assistants from the cybercrime unit are analysing it and carrying out initial technical checks,” the Paris public prosecutor’s office stated in an email received by Reuters.
There has been no statement from X regarding the complaint so far.
Since its acquisition by Musk in October 2022, X has undergone major radical changes under the billionaire’s supervision, with many of its critical policies scaled back, including suspension of accounts over guidelines violations.
The platform also monetised its verification feature, which led to a surge in hate speech and disinformation when the service was rolled out.
On the other hand, Musk, who labels himself a “free speech absolutist”, used X heavily in the lead-up to the recent US presidential elections to promote Donald Trump, with whom he appears to have developed a strong alliance post-polls. Musk has about 215 million followers on X, where the billionaire, especially after joining the Trump administration, has been abundantly expressing his political views and defending the president.
Due to Musk’s increased political activity on X, British news publication the Guardian quit posting on it in November 2024, saying Musk had been using the platform’s “influence to shape political discourse”.
