Manipulation: criminal investigation against X in France

The microblogging service X and some of its officials are officially under criminal suspicion in France. On July 9, the Paris public prosecutor's office ordered the Gendarmerie Nationale to investigate two possible offenses against legal entities and individuals:

• Tampering with the operation of an automated data processing system by an organized gang
• Fraudulent extraction of data from such a system by an organized gang

The focus is on the X algorithm, which shows selected postings to many other users, but makes other comments disappear. The ball was set rolling at the beginning of the year by two complaints accusing X of interfering in France's internal political affairs by manipulating its own algorithm. According to the public prosecutor's office, the suspicion has since been substantiated by reviews, findings by French researchers and contributions from various public institutions to such an extent that it has commissioned the gendarmerie to investigate.

The gendarmerie now wants access to the algorithm and real-time data so that experts can get to the bottom of the allegations. But X is not cooperating. In an online post, the social network denies the allegations, but at the same time says it does not know the exact allegations.

X reacts angrily

The post is not sparing with accusations against the investigators, ranging from violations of criminal procedure law and data protection to restrictions on free speech. Two named experts were said to be biased against X, which X presented as proof of the political motivation behind the investigation.

The classification as an organized gang (bande organisée) struck a particular chord. "This description, which is usually reserved for drug cartels and mafia groups, allows the French police to use extended investigative powers under French law," including wiretapping, X says angrily. The presumption of innocence applies. X is a subsidiary of the AI company xAI.

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