The Daily Populous Saturday February 8th, 2025 night edition
Authored by cnbc.com and submitted by Puginator

French prosecutors on have opened an investigation into Elon Musk's X over allegations that it distorted its algorithms to manipulate discourse taking place on the social media platform.

The Paris public prosecutor's office said it received a report from a French lawmaker on Jan. 12 criticizing X over "biased algorithms" that were "likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system."

Magistrates and specialized assistants of the office's cybercrime section have been tasked with analyzing the report and carrying out initial technical checks on the platform, the prosecutor's office told CNBC Friday, in emailed comments.

X, which was formerly known as Twitter, has been dogged by concerns surrounding shortcomings on content moderation since Musk bought the platform in 2022 for $44 billion.

According to French radio station Franceinfo, the French lawmaker who sent the report to the prosecutor's office was Eric Bothorel, an MP in President Emmanuel Macron's own Ensemble Pour La Republique party.

Meanwhile, the European Union has been investigating X for potential violations of the Digital Services Act, a law that requires social media firms to tackle the spread of harmful content on their platforms.

Last month, the European Commission which is the executive arm of the EU asked X to hand over internal documents about its algorithms by Feb. 15, as part of its ongoing DSA investigation into the company.

X has been accused of manipulating its systems to give far-right posts and politicians greater visibility over other political groups.

Musk has made several public statements in Germany voicing support for the country's far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, even making a surprise virtual appearance at a campaign event last month.

The AfD was polling second ahead of Germany's upcoming Feb. 23 general election.

XSinTrick6666 on February 7th, 2025 at 17:26 UTC »

Good.

Fine. Sanction. Block. Seize Property and Accounts.

America Thanks You.

Antique_Let_2992 on February 7th, 2025 at 17:20 UTC »

In Elon's mind this counts as "free speech". And considering how much interference Musk is doing in Germany, it's not really surprising.

TheWasabinator on February 7th, 2025 at 17:16 UTC »

So it's just a matter of time until Trump starts sanctioning or tariffing France for whatever made up reason.