Ten convicted of cyber-bullying directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has found guilty ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the wife of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced allegations of spreading false claims regarding her gender and sexual orientation, in addition to posting defamatory statements about the couple's age disparity of 24 years.
The court issued conditional custodial sentences of up to eight months to the defendants. The full ruling has not yet been published.
A circulating false narrative alleging that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been in circulation since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.
This recent ruling in France is concurrent with the Macrons engaging in a libel case in the US against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced analogous false narratives about the French president's wife's identity.
Their lawsuit contends that Owens ignored all credible evidence contradicting her allegations in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has frequently reiterated these claims on her show and online platforms, and in March 2024 declared that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her current spouse when she was a teacher at his secondary school.
The two tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.
