Absurd charges from French Justice against Elon Musk – Analysts do not rule out American retaliation

There is 1 happening connected which French media and analysts agree: the American billionaire Elon Musk is not expected to question to Paris today, wherever helium has been summoned by the caput of France’s cybercrime portion for a “voluntary interview.”

This is portion of a preliminary probe launched successful France successful January 2025 against the societal media level X and the Grok artificial quality software, some of which helium owns.

His effect to the summons is not mandatory astatine this stage.

However, French Justice could aboriginal escalate pressure, perchance up to the issuance of an planetary apprehension warrant.

This is particularly existent since experts from France’s National Cyber Security Unit person amazingly hinted, done leaks to the press, that they person “well-founded suspicions” (sic) that Elon Musk, by manipulating the algorithm of his societal media platform, has committed the pursuing offences: amerciable usage of users’ delicate idiosyncratic information for targeted advertising, influencing nationalist sermon successful France, denial of crimes against humanity, complicity successful the possession and organisation of kid pornography, usurpation of privacy, and more.

Moreover, the manipulation of a societal media platform’s algorithm constitutes “tampering with the operation” of a machine system, which is criminally punishable nether French law.

He called the judges “intellectually retarded”

As reported by French media outlets, aft 15 months of investigation, judges and constabulary — assisted by assorted artificial quality experts and “information provided by assorted nationalist bodies” — decided to petition that X supply its algorithm truthful they could find whether and to what grade French authorities is being violated.

The company, whose office are successful Dublin, Ireland, refused to supply the algorithm, evidently denouncing the probe arsenic “politically motivated” and based connected “abuse of French law.”

On February 3, French investigators raided the French offices of the X platform, which denounced the determination arsenic a “tactic of pressure.”

Musk himself called the judges investigating his level “intellectually retarded.”

Regarding the U.S. Department of Justice, it informed French prosecutors that it refuses to supply assistance. In its reply missive dated April 17 (published the adjacent time successful the Wall Street Journal), it described the lawsuit arsenic a “politically motivated transgression probe aimed astatine the amerciable regularisation of the activities of a societal media platform.”

Analysts bash not regularisation retired American retaliation

According to French analysts, the French side’s strategy bears immoderate resemblance to its confrontation with the Russian-born French national Pavel Durov, the caput of the Telegram messaging service.

Durov was arrested, placed successful custody, and charged with ignoring judicial requests, aft which helium began complying with the investigators’ demands.

However, since Musk is not a French citizen, the French broadside is treading connected uncharted waters, analysts note.

They bash not regularisation retired the anticipation of American retaliation successful the signifier of sanctions against the French judges astatine the halfway of the probe — akin to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. authorities astatine the extremity of December 2025 against the erstwhile French Commissioner Thierry Breton, successful transportation with the cardinal European legislative measures connected ample integer platforms that helium promoted during his clip successful Brussels.