Elon Musk's X faces lawsuit filed by newspapers in France

London – While being nominated by Donald Trump to take over a US government efficiency department, Elon Musk gained yet another concern in Europe: a legal case opened this Tuesday by a coalition formed by important French newspapers, including Le Figaro, Le Monde , Les Echos and Le Parisien against X.

The newspapers allege that the social media platform has been using their journalistic content without offering due financial compensation, violating “related rights” established by a 2019 European directive.

French law, which implements the European Union directive, requires online platforms like X to financially compensate news publishers when they share or display their content, according to the newspapers.

If successful, the coalition could claim damages for the last five years. Also part of the group are the cultural magazine Telerama, Courrier International, HuffPost, Malesherbes Publications and the news weekly Nouvel Obs.

Process against Musk’s X: damage to financial stability

News companies argue that X, by using its articles and headlines to drive user engagement without paying for it, is harming its financial stability, especially at a time when the traditional media industry is already facing economic difficulties.

This is not the first similar case in France. Technology giants such as Google, Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft have also faced similar legal battles in the country.

Google and Meta have already negotiated licensing agreements with French journalistic companies in 2021.

Microsoft, for its part, is currently in negotiations with several European Union entities to enter into agreements that compensate publishers fairly for displaying their work.

Microsoft spokesperson told Les Échos that the company “is engaged in negotiations” and “determined to compensate publishers fairly for displaying their work.”

Preliminary action against X

In the case of

The Paris court had ordered X to provide financial data necessary to calculate the income obtained from the press content. According to the editors, X did not meet the determination.

“We asked for access to commercial data that would allow us to assess the financial impact of using our content, but the response was silence,” said a representative from the Alliance for General Information Press (APIG).

Elon Musk, known for his blunt opinions, had already criticized the French law in 2022, questioning why he should pay newspapers for traffic directed to their websites, where they profit from advertising.

An X employee told the French press that the company does not comment on ongoing processes.