A Paris court on Monday found 10 individuals guilty of cyberbullying France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, over false claims about her gender and sexuality. Among the convicted, one received a six-month jail term without suspension, while the others were handed suspended sentences ranging up to eight months. The court also imposed fines, mandatory cyber harassment courses, and social media bans on five defendants.
Macron Fights Online Harassment, Slander
The accused had spread rumours claiming Brigitte Macron was born a man, using her age gap with President Emmanuel Macron—24 years—as a pretext for slander, referring to it as “paedophilia.” In her statement to TF1, Brigitte Macron defended her legal action, saying the attacks included individuals hacking her tax website and misrepresenting her identity. She said her fight was meant to set an example for adolescents facing harassment online.
Court Rejects Satire Defense
Eight of the convicted are men, and two are women. Some defendants had argued their comments were satire, a claim the court rejected. Bertrand Scholler, 55, who received a six-month suspended jail sentence, announced plans to appeal, calling the ruling “abominable” and warning that freedom of speech was under threat. The case mirrors a broader transatlantic debate over online speech, coming amid efforts by European countries to curb disinformation and the Trump administration’s criticism of such measures as censorship.
The ruling also coincides with a separate US case involving controversial podcaster Candace Owens, who made similar claims against the French First Lady.
