French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Thursday said it would not follow other media outlets by quitting X, publishing instead a series of caricatures mocking the platform’s owner Elon Musk.

The billionaire tech tycoon ally of US president-elect Donald Trump is accused of promoting disinformation on the network formerly known as Twitter.

“Elon Musk prides himself on defending freedom of speech. Charlie Hebdo has decided to make full use of it by publishing cartoons of its famous boss on X,” the magazine said in a statement sent to AFP.

A total of 19 drawings, published in Charlie Hebdo’s latest issue and translated into English, will be posted on the social media network by Friday.

“We hope you like our idea of freedom of expression. Please, don’t hesitate to tell us which design you like best,” the magazine posted on the site, tagging Musk.

Coming just after the satirical weekly marked 10 years since two Al-Qaeda-linked masked gunmen stormed its offices, killing 12, the drawings showcase Charlie Hebdo’s typical acerbic humour.

One shows the Tesla boss borne aloft in a car by four unhappy servants with the caption “MUSK: MAKING CARS FOR MASTER RACES”.

The incoming head of the United States’ Department of Government Efficiency was already featured on the magazine’s last front page.

Titled “Elon Musk, the extreme right of the future”, the cover shows the SpaceX CEO bursting from the chest of French far-right figure Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died on January 7, in a nod to the Ridley Scott horror film Alien.

Since its takeover by Musk in 2022, X has been accused by many media outlets and platform users of spreading false information and not allocating enough resources to content moderation.

In recent weeks, X has seen an increasing number of people and institutions announcing their departure from the platform.

Left-leaning British newspaper The Guardian stopped publishing as early as November, the month Trump won re-election to the White House.