In France, 10 individuals who made insulting and derogatory posts about President Emmanuel Macron's wife, the country's First Lady Brigitte Macron, on the internet have been found guilty of cyberbullying.
Modern.az reports that, according to a decision by the Paris court, the accused individuals were found guilty of disseminating comments on social networks that presented Brigitte Macron as a “trans woman” and a “pedophile” by making unfounded claims about her gender.
The court determined that these claims were untrue and aimed at degrading the individual.
Investigation materials state that the accused individuals shared false information claiming that Mrs. Macron was supposedly born a man, and also used offensive language by referring to the 24-year age difference between the Macron couple. It is noted that 72-year-old Brigitte Macron was the high school teacher of 48-year-old Emmanuel Macron. Although some individuals claimed their posts were “intended as a joke” during the two-day court hearings held last October, the court did not accept these arguments.
According to the decision, one of the accused individuals was deprived of liberty for a period of 6 months, and 8 individuals received suspended prison sentences. One person, without receiving a prison sentence, will participate in educational training on cyberbullying along with the others. This individual stated that they apologized during the trial. Furthermore, all 10 individuals were ordered to pay a total of 10,000 euros in compensation to Mrs. Macron for moral damages.
It should be noted that Brigitte Macron had previously appealed to the court over similar claims. In 2021, in a case filed against two bloggers who spread “transgender individual” claims about her, the court of first instance issued a compensation decision, but this decision was later overturned at the appellate stage, and the case was brought back for reconsideration.
