10 People Found Guilty of Cyberbullying Brigitte Macron

A court in Paris found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron, France's first lady, after it determined that they made malicious false claims online about her gender and sexuality.

The Details: Eight men and two women between the ages of 41 and 65 were named defendants in the case. The defendants were accused and convicted of falsely claiming that Macron is a transgender woman and accusing her of pedophilia due to the 24-year age gap between herself and her husband, France's President Emmanuel Macron. One male defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, eight were given suspended sentences between four and eight months, and all were ordered to complete cyberbullying awareness training. Many of the defendants have also lost access to the social media accounts they used.

For Context: The court focused on some "particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious" comments and said that "repeated publications have had cumulative harmful effects." It emphasized that the sentences were proportional to the severity and seriousness of the posts. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit against political influencer Candace Owens (Right bias) for making related comments in her "Becoming Brigitte" series.

How the Media Covered It: Sources across the political spectrum covered the trial similarly, framing the posts as false and harmful and highlighting what Macron's daughter called the "deterioration" of her life due to the rumors. The Independent (Lean Left) called the claims about Macron's gender "wild" and "unsubstantiated" and described Candace Owens as a "far-right podcaster" when noting that she has amplified the claims online. 

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