French prosecutors, Paris cybercrime unit open investigation into X's algorithms!

[D.Draker]

Source, in English:

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2025/02/07/paris-prosecutors-open-investigation-into-x-s-algorithms_6737910_13.html

"Elon Musk's social media platform is being investigated by the Paris cybercrime unit, after being reported by an MP."

By Aurélien Defer , Damien Leloup and Martin Untersinger

Published on February 7, 2025, at 7:22 pm (Paris), updated on February 7, 2025, at 7:23 pm 

Lire en français

"An investigation into the operation of social media platform X has been opened in Paris, broadcaster Franceinfo reported Friday, February 7. In the sights of the French investigators is the functioning of X's algorithms, "likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system." The investigation has been entrusted to the Paris cybercrime unit (J3), whose "specialised judges and assistants (...) are carrying out initial technical checks," said the prosecutor's office."

"At the heart of this investigation lies a legal innovation. Bothorel's alert is largely based on an analysis published on February 6 by legal expert and law professor Michel Séjean. In the specialized journal Dalloz, Séjean argued that under French law, distorting the operation of a recommendation algorithm on a social media platform can be punishable by the same penalties as computer hacking. According to this analysis, manipulating a platform's algorithm without the users' knowledge would be punishable under Article 323-2 of the French penal code, which punishes "hindering or distorting the operation of an automated data processing system." Until now, this article has been used exclusively to punish data theft and other forms of computer piracy."

[AstroSkipper]

Very interesting investigation! It's about time we took a closer look at these social media platforms. And especially those like X/Twitter, whose misuse urgently needs to be exposed. I hope that European law and national law will be sufficient to put a stop to such platforms. 

[Rod Steel]

12 hours ago, D.Draker said:

Elon Musk's social media platform is being investigated by the Paris cybercrime unit, after being reported by an MP

He is con-artist and fraudster. Jail is crying for him. But in America rich is above the law, unless they steal from other very rich people (like Bernie Madoff).

There is a good YouTube channel called Thunderf00t that expose his lies and fraud.

Edited March 12 by Rod Steel

[NotHereToPlayGames]

23 minutes ago, Rod Steel said:

But in America rich is above the law

Maybe...  But so is any "minority" that can play the "race card", so is any "minority" that can claim their "kind" is discriminated against, et cetera.

Here in America, our justice system is flawed, make no mistake about that.  But...  did O.J. Simpson "get away with murder" because he was "rich"?  Or because he was a minority being accused by the majority.

Again, don't read between the lines, the American justice system is flawed!  I am not claiming that it isn't.

Here in America, mob mentality rules!

[Karla Sleutel]

17 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Here in America

Is Elon even a US citizen?

[D.Draker]

11 hours ago, Karla Sleutel said:

Is Elon even a US citizen?

We'll never know the truth. It's now a very connected individual.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

1 hour ago, Karla Sleutel said:

Is Elon even a US citizen?

Listen, I'm a Centrist.  I vote Left.  I vote Right.  I do *NOT* want EITHER of our two parties to be "extremists".
So the way I see it, Elon is actually SAVING our Country!

What we have going on in American Politics right now is nothing more than something like a Welfare Queen abusing "the system".
Once that Welfare Queen LIES and CHEATS to get something for FREE, ALL HELL BREAKS LOSE WHEN 'THE SYSTEM' TAKES THAT FREE STUFF AWAY!
All that Elon is "trying to do" is TAKE AWAY FREE STUFF FROM THOSE THAT HAVE LIED AND CHEATED FOR *DECADES* TO RECEIVE THAT FREE STUFF!

The *PROBLEM* here is that while Elon is "clawing back" WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE, and there is a SH%TLO@D of it in American Politics, is that Elon himself has been the RECIPIENT of waste, fraud, and abuse over the years !!!
SpaceX and Tesla have both received *billions* in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits for DECADES.

Let's "claw back" that WASTE also !!!  But...
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
One man's loss is another man's gain.
What is useless to one person is valuable to another person.
There is no accounting for taste.
What is rain for one is a parade for another.
What is yuck for one is yum for another.
To each his own.
Different strokes for different folks.
Your mileage may vary.

PENDULUM POLITICS is the problem!

Edited March 13 by NotHereToPlayGames

[Tripredacus]

The only reason why Elon is managing Doge is because he said he would do it. Usually when people come up with grandiose ideas, they don't volunteer to be part of the solution. 

The complaint (which OP should have highlighted) is the following:

Quote

X is suspected of having modified its algorithms to give greater prominence to certain content – notably posts from Musk

I doubt it is the case to be honest. On X you do not need to follow him to see what he says, that is true. However X has (and has had for a long time, even when Jack was on the board) 2 views. The default view which is the old view where you only see the content of the people you follow: Their posts (but not replies) and their retweets. The other view is the For You, or the feed. On that view you will also see posts the people you follow have replied to, have liked AND posts from accounts that they follow. Even before Elon bought Twitter, he was one of the users with a very high engagement, many replies, many followers, many quote tweets. So if any of the people you follow also follow him, then his posts are going to show up in the For You view. Especially if you follow any news outlet or journalist, as they all follow him. Now the For You feed has been the default view on Twitter for quite a few years now, so this predates it being X. He had posted some internal info last year stating that most people use the For You view and he had posted how to use the other view.

The For You view is often criticized because it displays the posts out of order. That is why I never liked to use it. I think that X could make this complaint moot if they just change the default tab to the Following mode, since if you potentially never see any post from Elon on that view. But as I said, if you follow any news/journo type, they are probably going to quote tweet him, so you can't hide from him forever.

The only issue unrelated to the algorithm is that you cannot actually mute some accounts. Technically you can but the posts can still appear. I do not know if Musk's account is one of them but the X and SpaceX accounts cannot be actually muted. The X account I can understand, same reason here you cannot block Admins. Even in this case, I don't think it is something you would take legal action against.

[D.Draker]

On 3/12/2025 at 5:05 PM, Rod Steel said:

There is a good YouTube channel

I'm blocked. Proof.

 

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Um, proof of what?

I'm not blocked on YouTube.  I'm not blocked on Invidious.  I use Invidious and see that screen at times, just click one of the non-underlined backend links, keep switching backends until the video loads.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Since Invidious was brought up -

This is the userscript that I use if a YouTube video is being "problematic" on YouTube.

I actually *prefer* the YouTube web site 90% of the time (but only because of adblockers, userstyles, and userscripts).

For those 10% problem-times, a simple tap of the Esc key reloads the video at Invidious and defaults to highest resolution.

 

// ==UserScript==
// @name - YouTube 00 - Invidious Redirect
// @version 1.2.1
// @include http://www.youtube.com/*
// @include https://www.youtube.com/*
// @run-at document-start
// @grant none
// ==/UserScript==

document.addEventListener('keydown', function(event) {
  if (event.key === 'Escape') {
    var a = 0;
    setInterval(function () {
      if (a === 0 && window.location.href.indexOf('watch?') > -1 && window.location.href.indexOf('list=WL') < 0) {
        a = '//inv.nadeko.net/watch?' + window.parent.location.href.split('?')[1] + '&quality=dash&quality_dash=best';
        window.location.replace(a);
      }
    }, 10);
  }
});

[D.Draker]

11 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Um, proof of what?

On the screenshot it says, INVIDIOUS, is it not clear enough? Do I need to put up a higher res. image?

[D.Draker]

11 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

just click one of the non-underlined backend links, keep switching backends until the video loads.

@NotHereToPlayGames, after us being together for almost twenty years here, I assumed you would've figured out I already tried that.

Edit:

You confuse me with that other user. (not saying which, but everyone knows). The one that is on Edge and Win10, "latest and securest".

Edited March 14 by D.Draker
edit

[NotHereToPlayGames]

22 minutes ago, D.Draker said:

after us being together for almost twenty years here

You have me confused with somebody else.

I signed up here in 2019 after being a reader for a year, two tops.

I never heard of MSFN prior to circa 7yrs ago.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

35 minutes ago, D.Draker said:

On the screenshot it says, INVIDIOUS, is it not clear enough? Do I need to put up a higher res. image?

Are you being "dense" this morning on purpose?

That screen does not "prove" being blocked!  Does not prove being blocked at YouTube (which is what your post implies).  Does not prove being blocked at Invidious.

That "switch backend" notice pops up because the server-side is busy and needs you to "switch backend" so that your video can be served from another server.