US Justice Department Refuses to Aid French Probe Into X, Citing First Amendment

The Paris prosecutor’s office cybercrime unit has investigated X since January 2025, initially focusing on whether its algorithms interfered in French politics before expanding the probe to Grok-generated sexual deepfakes, child sexual imagery and Holocaust-denial content. No financial amount has been disclosed in the case, which centers on a clash between French jurisdiction and US free-speech protections.

The US Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs sent a two-page letter on April 18, 2026, rejecting several French requests for judicial assistance and saying the use of criminal proceedings to regulate X violated the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino both failed to attend voluntary interviews with Paris prosecutors on April 20, but prosecutors said the investigation would continue.