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The U.S. Department of Justice reportedly declined to cooperate with French authorities investigating Elon Musk’s X after a raid of the platform’s Paris office earlier this year, citing First Amendment concerns, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In a letter dated Friday, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs dismissed France’s request for help, the Journal reported on Saturday.
The letter, reviewed by the Journal, said the French investigation was an attempt to use the legal system to interfere with an American business. It characterized the inquiry as an effort to regulate a “public square” for the free expression of ideas and opinions, which it said conflicts with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The DOJ also described the French requests as a politically charged criminal proceeding intended to wrongfully regulate X’s business activities, according to the report.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Benzinga.
The investigation into X began in January 2025 following complaints by a lawmaker and another official. They alleged that X’s content-selection algorithm was skewed toward Musk’s views and argued that it amounted to foreign interference in France.
Separately, X was fined €120 million in December by the European Union over transparency and verification issues. The fine came amid ongoing regulatory and legal disputes involving the platform across multiple jurisdictions.
Following the report, Musk posted on X, “Indeed, this needs to stop.”
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