RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
04/15/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/15/2026 11:38
France: RSF steps up legal action against X over disinformation
Just days before Elon Musk is due to appear before the cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reveals that it has lodged a complaint against his social media platform X with the same unit. The new RSF complaint targets the platform's policies that allow disinformation to flourish. RSF is asking the court to establish the responsibility of the US billionaire's company in repeated violations of the public's right to reliable information.
On 20 April, Elon Musk is scheduled to appear before the cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office as part of an investigation into alleged misconduct by his social media platform X. RSF is now announcing that in January 2026, it filed a complaint with the same unit against X for its repeated failures to address illegal content.
"Disinformation campaigns are flooding X, some of which have accumulated several hundred thousand views. Although the staff at Elon Musk's platform are well aware of the situation, this has not stopped them from responding to RSF's repeated alerts with automated refusals to remove the content in question. This is a deliberate policy instated by X, and it is incompatible with the public's right to reliable information
Antoine Bernard
RSF Advocacy Director
A new complaint aimed at establishing the platform's liability
RSF lodged its first legal complaint against X in November 2024, denouncing the platform's complicity in the dissemination of videos impersonating the NGO's identity to spread false information. Between November 2024 and January 2026, RSF reported many other videos unlawfully impersonating the NGO, including a deep fake of its director general, Thibaut Bruttin. Although the flagged content was clearly illegal, X did not give a single satisfactory response to the alerts sent by RSF.
The first RSF complaint sought to establish the platform's complicity in the theft of the NGO's identity and the damage to its reputation. The January 2026 complaint goes further by directly targeting how the platform is run. The way X is managed systematically and deliberately facilitates unlawful content to circulate.
RSF notably claims that X is committing the criminal offence of "unlawful governance of an online platform", undermining everyone's right to reliable information. This accusation is central to the ongoing investigation by the cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office, in which RSF has been recognised as a victim, and which led to a raid on X's offices in France and the 20 April summons for Elon Musk.
Published on 15.04.2026
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