Tech Platforms and Child Safety

Paris prosecutors on Feb. 3 raided the French offices of X as part of a criminal investigation into alleged complicity in distributing child sexual‑abuse images, sexually explicit deepfakes and Holocaust‑denial content, and have summoned owner Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino for voluntary questioning on April 20. The cybercrime probe, opened in January 2025, is examining possible 'complicity' in possession and distribution of child pornography, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data‑processing system as part of an organized group, triggered partly by Grok, xAI’s chatbot available through X, generating sexualized non‑consensual deepfakes and a widely shared post minimizing Auschwitz gas chambers. Europol is supporting French authorities, and X staff in France have also been called as witnesses, while the Paris prosecutor’s office announced the raid on X itself before saying it would leave the platform. Separately, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office has opened formal investigations into X and xAI over Grok’s use of personal data and its failure to stop users from creating harmful manipulated images, highlighting growing European regulatory backlash to Musk’s AI and social‑media operations. For U.S. readers, the case underscores that European prosecutors and privacy regulators are prepared to use raids and personal summonses against a U.S. platform and AI company over child‑safety and Holocaust‑denial failures, raising the stakes for how American tech firms police abuse and train large models worldwide.