Elon Musk faces a criminal probe in France after ignoring summonses in the X case
The Paris prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday that it had opened a criminal investigation against Elon Musk, owner of the social-media platform X (formerly Twitter). The basis is Musk's failure to respond to two summonses from a French court. In French law, the failure of a legal or natural person to respond to a court summons is treated as an offence under the country's 2017 "Resistance to Justice" law. The law provides for up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of €75,000.
The case dates back to March 2025, when a French prosecutor opened an investigation into Twitter's (later rebranded as X) content-moderation policy in France. At the centre of the investigation is the platform's failure to remove on time two pieces of content that the French judiciary had ruled, in November 2024, must be taken down. The content concerned was related to an incident in Paris's 19th arrondissement on 12 November 2024 and was deemed to constitute incitement to political violence. France's 2004 "Judicial Decision Compliance" law requires content for which a court has ordered removal to be taken down by the platform within 48 hours.
The French prosecutor's office summoned Musk twice — once in December 2025 and again in March 2026. The first summons was accepted by Pierre Castro, X's representative in France, but Musk did not appear to give evidence. The second was sent to Musk's lawyer in the United States and went unanswered. The criminal investigation, the third step in the process, was opened with the signature of François Molins, head of the Paris prosecutor's office. Molins said in a statement: "France's judiciary stands above no individual, whatever their financial standing or technological position."
The investigation triggers a French legal procedure known as "trial in unlawful absence." Under that procedure, Musk's case can be heard without him being in France; but should he set foot on French soil, a Tertia (third-tier) detention order can be applied. EU member states' police forces are obliged to enforce that order. In practical terms, Musk may also be unable to travel to Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland or any of the EU's other 22 member states; their authorities may be obliged to surrender him to France.
In a response posted on X, Musk dismissed the investigation as "political harassment": "The French court's decision is an attack on the freedom of expression of X's users. I will not contest this case, because in principle I do not accept it." The statement issued by X chief executive Linda Yaccarino took a more measured tone: "X recognises the importance of the legal processes in France and is conducting an assessment with its legal counsel."
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin defended the investigation at La République En Marche's weekly meeting: "No technology company can stand above French law. Musk's failure to respond to summonses reflects his problem, not that of the legal system. Cases of this type will be pursued more rigorously under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA)." The DSA, the EU's 2024 law on digital services, regulates social-media platforms' obligations to comply with member states' judicial decisions.
Elon Musk's legal issues continue elsewhere. In Brazil, the financial penalties imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after the 2024 nationwide ban on the X platform have not yet been fully paid. In the United Kingdom, an investigation under the Online Safety Act is ongoing; in the United States, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has separately launched a review into X-related posts Musk made during his 2022 acquisition of Twitter. The investigation in France places Musk on a fourth legal front globally.
Roch-Olivier Maistre, spokesperson for the French regulator ARCOM, summarised the platform's legal position in France to Le Monde: "X has implemented only 23 of the 47 ARCOM decisions over the past 18 months. That non-compliance rate is far below the average for other platforms ARCOM oversees (91 percent). The opening of a criminal investigation is a step that strengthens ARCOM's position on the platform at the EU level."
Another contested EU case is the European Commission's decision in March 2026, which found that X had not fully met the transparency obligations under the DSA and imposed a €142 million fine. The fine has not yet been paid; X has filed an appeal with the EU Court. The appeal is expected to be heard in November 2026. The French criminal investigation running in parallel with the appeal is being viewed as a test case for the EU legal framework on social-media platforms.
Elon Musk's investigation in France may be an important milestone in the relationship between global technology companies and national judicial systems. Yale Law School Professor Tim Wu, speaking to BBC News, said: "This case really does mark a new era. Nation states have begun to test their jurisdiction over global technology platforms. Whatever the outcome, it will be a reference point for the global internet." The next step of the investigation will be set out in a press statement in Paris on 18 May. Musk's posts on X suggest he has no intention of being in France on that date.