In January 2025, France’s J3 cybercrime unit received two complaints—one from MP Éric Bothorel and another from a senior cybersecurity official—raising alarms that X may have manipulated its recommendation algorithm to favor extremist or foreign interests and extracted user data unlawfully
By July 11, 2025, the Paris prosecutor launched a formal criminal investigation, targeting X and unnamed individuals for “tampering with an automated data processing system” and “fraudulent extraction of data” under French criminal code
Legal Grounds and Potential Penalties
The probe is built around alleged offences under France’s cybercrime laws. If convicted, individuals could face up to 5 years in prison, while X could be fined up to 4% of annual global revenue—equating to several hundred million euros .
The investigation is led by the J3 unit, which previously investigated Telegram’s Pavel Durov, and involves police collection of technical evidence, such as internal logs and testimonies
Link to EU-Wide Digital Services Act Scrutiny
France’s probe aligns with ongoing inquiries by the European Commission under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The EU is already investigating X’s algorithm reputation, access to data, moderation policies, and ads strategy Reuters
French digital regulator Arcom also referred X to Brussels, reinforcing concerns about biased recommendations amplifying far-right content
Why This Matters
This marks one of the first criminal investigations focusing on algorithmic accountability. It sets a meaningful precedent for how democracies can legally challenge opaque, automated content systems that influence public discourse and elections.
The case demonstrates increasing regulatory boldness in enforcing digital regulations and highlights growing demands for transparency, fairness, and ethics in platform governance
What Comes Next
- Technical audits and evidence gathering by police
- Potential raids or document requests to X
- Charges could follow if intent to manipulate or misuse data is proven
- Further EU-level enforcement as part of DSA compliance
In summary, France’s criminal probe into X over algorithmic manipulation and data fraud is a watershed moment. It marks a robust move toward holding global tech platforms morally and legally accountable for how their systems shape information and influence democracy.
