The U.S. Justice Department has flatly refused to help French authorities investigate Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
In a letter sent Friday obtained by The Wall Street Journal , the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs said the French probe is an attempt to regulate a U.S. company through criminal law.
“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the letter states.
The department added that France’s requests “constitute an effort to entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”
The Justice Department just told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn’t facilitate their efforts to investigate @X. @TheJusticeDept accused France of abusing its criminal justice system to target an American company and censor free speech — in clear violation of the… pic.twitter.com/SVeg1Tu8FG
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) April 18, 2026
French authorities have been pursuing X since early 2025, including a February raid on its Paris office.
Prosecutors have sought U.S. help multiple times this year, including requests to serve summonses on Musk and other executives for “voluntary interviews.”
The probe covers allegations ranging from algorithmic bias to deepfakes and content banned under French law, including Holocaust denial.
X has dismissed the investigation as baseless and an attempt to impose censorship.
“We are grateful to the Justice Department for rejecting this effort by a prosecutor in Paris to compel our CEO and several employees to sit for interviews,” a company spokesperson said.
“We hope the Parisian authorities will now come to their senses, recognize that there is no wrongdoing here, and terminate their baseless investigation,” the official added.
French prosecutors said they were unaware of the DOJ letter and insisted their judiciary operates independently.
Since taking over Twitter back in 2022, Elon Musk has largely ended the previous censorship regime and renamed the company X.
Like many European countries, France is notorious for its hostility to freedom of speech, particularly for those from conservative or nationalist viewpoints.
Back in April 2024, French authorities arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in Paris, accusing the platform of failing to curb illegal content, including terrorism-related material, child exploitation, and fraud.
He was later released under judicial supervision, with the case still ongoing.
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