Ten found guilty of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron

A Paris court has convicted ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The accused individuals faced charges of circulating fabrications regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to making hurtful comments about the pair's significant age difference.

The court issued suspended prison sentences of up to eight months to the convicted individuals. The complete verdict has still to be made public.

A circulating unfounded claim claiming that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has spread widely since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.

This recent ruling in France comes as the Macrons initiating a libel case in the US against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared analogous false narratives about the French president's wife's biological sex.

Their legal filing contends that Owens ignored all credible evidence disproving her claim in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.

Owens has often echoed these assertions on her digital program and social networks, and in March 2024 stated that she would stake her entire professional reputation on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

Brigitte Macron initially encountered her current spouse when she worked as an educator at his high school.

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