Social media platform X has pushed back against what it deems a ‘politically motivated’ criminal investigation launched by French authorities, they went on to state it will not comply with the probe and denies any allegations.
In a post on its Global Government Affairs handle, X responded to a probe launched by the Paris prosecutor’s office last week to investigate suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by the company and its executives.
X stated it “remains in the dark” as to the specific allegations made against the platform but based on what it knows so far it believes the investigation is “distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech”.
The company explained French authorities had requested access to its recommendation algorithm and real-time data about all user posts on the platform in order for experts to analyse the data and purportedly “uncover the truth” about the operation of the X platform.
One of the experts in question is French politician Eric Bothorel who heads up French public institution Escape X, which X said is dedicated to encourage users to leave the platform.
Another expert is Maziyar Panahi, who has previously participated in research projects with Bothorel and has been known to “demonstrate open hostility towards X”, added the company.
“The involvement of these individuals raises serious concerns about the impartiality, fairness and political motivations of the investigation, to put it charitably. A predetermined outcome is not a fair one,” added X’s post.
X is also under fire from the European Commission over potentially breaching advertising rules under the Digital Services Act.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: X