Washington [US], August 2 : The United States has strongly condemned France's criminal investigation into social media platform X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, calling it an act of "foreign censorship," France 24 reported.
In a statement posted on X, the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said, "As part of a criminal investigation, an activist French prosecutor is requesting information on X's proprietary algorithm and has classified X as an 'organized crime group.'"
It added, "Democratic governments should allow all voices to be heard, not silence speech they dislike. The United States will defend the free speech of all Americans against acts of foreign censorship."
According to France 24, the cybercrime prosecutors in Paris launched a police probe on July 11 to investigate suspected crimes such as manipulating and extracting data from automated systems "as part of a criminal gang."
X, formerly Twitter, has denied the allegations and called them "politically motivated." The platform said it refused to comply with the prosecutor's request to access its recommendation algorithm and real-time data.
France 24 reported that the probe followed two complaints filed in January, one of which came from Eric Bothorel, an MP from President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party. He cited a "reduced diversity of voices and options" and pointed to Musk's "personal interventions" in X's management since taking control of the platform.
"Democracy is too fragile to let digital platform owners tell us what to think, who to vote for or even who to hate," Bothorel said after the investigation was announced, as quoted by France 24.
X responded saying it "categorically denies" all the allegations and that the investigation "is distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech."
According to France 24, Musk, who also heads Tesla and SpaceX, has stirred controversy in Europe with his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of legislative elections in February.