 "Paris court convicts 10 for cyber harassment of France's First Lady Brigitte Macron")
A Paris court on Monday convicted 10 people for harassing the country’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, over a wave of false and offensive online claims.
The 10 convicted—eight men and two women aged between 41 and 60—were found guilty of a range of cyber harassment offences that stemmed from repeated, malicious online posts about Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality.
Prosecutors said the comments included baseless assertions that she was born a man and used the significant age gap between her and President Emmanuel Macron to imply wrongdoing.
While Brigitte Macron did not personally attend the proceedings, the impact of the online attacks was brought into sharp relief during the trial.
Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified that the relentless stream of false claims had taken a toll on her mother’s well-being and affected the family’s everyday life. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court.
High-profile online personalities found guilty
The harassment campaign, which took shape on social media platforms over several years, wasn’t just limited to small-time commenters.
Among the defendants was Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, a well-known online figure whose account was suspended in 2024 amid multiple judicial investigations.
Another central defendant, Delphine Jegousse, also known online as Amandine Roy, was identified for her role in spreading conspiratorial content, including a lengthy video that helped fuel the false narratives.
Defendants came from a range of backgrounds, including an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several argued in court that their posts were intended as humour or satire, claiming they didn’t appreciate the seriousness of the charges. French prosecutors, however, rejected that defence, saying the reach and repetition of these posts showed a clear pattern of harassment and defamation.
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View AllUnder French law, cyber harassment carries penalties of up to two years in prison, although the exact sentences for the convicted individuals have not been fully detailed.
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