A Paris court has convicted 10 individuals for cyberbullying Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France, by spreading false information online about her gender and sexuality, including baseless claims that she was born a male.
One of the defendants received a six-month prison sentence, while the other eight were given suspended sentences ranging from four to eight months. All 10 were mandated to undergo cyberbullying awareness training.
The court highlighted the “extremely degrading, offensive, and malicious” nature of the comments that propagated false rumors about Brigitte Macron’s gender identity and falsely linked her to pedophilia.
The accused, consisting of eight men and two women aged between 41 and 65, were charged with disseminating numerous false claims suggesting that the wife of President Emmanuel Macron was transgender and insinuating that their significant age difference was akin to pedophilia. Some of these posts garnered tens of thousands of views.
Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October but later stated in a televised interview that she pursued legal action to combat harassment and set an example.
Her lawyer emphasized the importance of immediate cyberbullying awareness training and, for certain defendants, restrictions on their social media usage.
During the trial, the daughter of Brigitte Macron, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about the negative impact of the online harassment on her mother’s well-being and the broader family, including Macron’s grandchildren.
The defendants received varying sentences, with one individual, a property asset manager, sentenced to six months in prison, which may be served at home under French law. Another key figure in spreading the false claims, Delphine Jegousse, received a six-month prison term.
Some defendants argued that their posts were meant as humor or satire, claiming they did not anticipate legal repercussions for their actions.
The case is part of a trend of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born with a different name, Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually her brother’s name. The Macrons have also initiated a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.
Emmanuel Macron, who has been France’s president since 2017, met Brigitte Macron when he was a high school student and she was his teacher. The couple, with a significant age gap of 24 years, has been married since 2007.