Elon Musk’s X on Monday denied allegations made via French government as a part of a felony investigation into alleged information tampering, including that it could no longer put up to the prosecutor’s call for at hand over information.
X’s international govt affairs account said the French investigation, which ramped up this while, is “politically-motivated” and designed to “restrict free speech.”
“French authorities have launched a politically-motivated criminal investigation into X over the alleged manipulation of its algorithm and alleged “fraudulent information extraction,” X said in a post on the social media platform. “X categorically denies those allegations.”
French prosecutors started an investigation in January over allegations that the company’s algorithm was being used for the purposes of foreign interference. The probe began after two complaints — one from a French member of parliament and another from a senior official at a public institution.
This month, the investigation was handed over to a key unit of France’s national police. Prosecutors said the investigation would focus on investigating offences of tampering with automated data systems as well as the fraudulent extraction of data from these systems.
“French government have asked get right of entry to to X’s advice set of rules and real-time information about all person posts at the platform to deliver for a number of ‘mavens’ to investigate the knowledge and purportedly ‘discover the reality’ concerning the operation of the X platform,” X said.
Musk’s social media platform also said it, “extra within the unlit as to the precise allegations made” against it.
“Alternatively, in response to what we all know to this point, X believes that this investigation is distorting French regulation to deliver to grant a political schedule and, in the long run, limit separate pronunciation,” X said.
“For those causes, X has no longer acceded to the French government’ calls for, as now we have a criminal proper to do. This isn’t a choice that X takes evenly. Alternatively, on this case, the info discuss for themselves.”
CNBC has reached out to the Paris prosecutor’s office for comment.
X took fire at two specific individuals. The company claimed the two “mavens” who will review X’s algorithm are David Chavalarias, director of the Paris Complex Systems Institute (ISC-PIF) and Maziyar Panahi, an AI platform leader at ISC-PIF.
X noted Chavalarias runs a campaign called “Departure X” which encourages users to leave the social media platform, and said Panahi “has prior to now participated in analysis initiatives with David Chavalarias that display observable hostility against X.” Both researchers have indeed been named on a research paper related to X.
“The involvement of those people raises critical considerations concerning the impartiality, equity, and political motivations of the investigation, to position it charitably. A predetermined end result isn’t an excellent one,” X mentioned.
CNBC has reached out to each Chavalarias and Panahi, and has but to obtain a touch upon X’s remark.
