Ten found guilty of cyber-bullying directed at Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has found guilty ten people for engaging in the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The accused individuals faced charges of spreading false claims regarding her gender identity and sexuality, in addition to publishing malicious remarks about the couple's 24-year age gap.

The court issued conditional custodial sentences of as much as eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has not yet been published.

A persistent unfounded claim suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has existed since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.

This recent ruling in France coincides with the Macrons initiating a defamation lawsuit in the US against political commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared similar conspiracy theories about the French president's wife's gender.

Their legal filing alleges that Owens ignored any factual proof contradicting her allegations in favour of give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has frequently reiterated these allegations on her podcast and online platforms, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would bet her whole career on her conviction that Mrs. Macron was born a man.

Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her current spouse when she was a teacher at his high school.

The two tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was 54.