{"id":676965,"date":"2026-01-06T05:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/676965\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T05:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:02:12","slug":"ten-convicted-for-cyber-bullying-frances-brigitte-macron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/676965\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten convicted for cyber-bullying France&#8217;s Brigitte Macron"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Brigitte Macron has long faced falsehoods about her gender<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Macrons pursuing separate defamation case against Candace Owens<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Couple have also faced malicious comments about their age gap<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Brigitte Macron says she is fighting the cases to set an example<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>PARIS, Jan 5 (Reuters) &#8211; A Paris court on Monday found 10 people guilty of the cyber-harassment of France&#8217;s first lady, Brigitte Macron, for spreading false claims that she is a transgender woman who was born male.<\/p>\n<p>Brigitte and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, have long faced such falsehoods, including allegations that she was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux &#8211; the actual name of her older brother.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/ten-people-convicted-online-harassment-frances-first-lady-brigitte-macron-2026-01-05\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fworld%2Ften-people-convicted-online-harassment-frances-first-lady-brigitte-macron-2026-01-05%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The couple&#8217;s 24-year age gap has also drawn criticism and barbs, which they largely ignored for years but have recently begun challenging in court.<\/p>\n<p>Monday&#8217;s ruling marks a victory for the Macrons as they pursue a separate high-profile U.S. defamation lawsuit against right-wing influencer and podcaster <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/french-president-macron-sues-right-wing-podcaster-over-claim-frances-first-lady-2025-07-23\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Candace Owens<\/a>, who has also claimed Brigitte was born male.<\/p>\n<p>The eight men and two women were found guilty of making malicious comments about Brigitte Macron&#8217;s gender and sexuality, even equating her age difference with her husband to &#8220;paedophilia&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>They received a range of sentences. One received a six-month jail sentence without suspension. Others received suspended jail terms of up to eight months. Further punishments included fines and mandatory cyber harassment awareness courses, and five were banned from using the social media platform they had posted on.<\/p>\n<p>SOME DEFEND THEIR COMMENTS AS SATIRE<\/p>\n<p>Reuters could not immediately contact Brigitte Macron&#8217;s lawyer or lawyers for those convicted.<\/p>\n<p>French president&#8217;s wife Brigitte Macron arrives ahead of the ceremony outside &#8220;La Belle Equipe&#8221; bar in Paris on November 13, 2025   LUDOVIC MARIN\/Pool via REUTERS <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersconnect.com\/item\/tenth-anniversary-of-the-november-13-2015-paris-attacks\/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjU6bmV3c21sX1JDMlBWSEFYQjI3VQ%3D%3D\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76 collapsible-caption-module__license__CPQvV\">Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a>The ruling comes amid broader transatlantic tensions over online speech, with the Trump administration framing European efforts to curb disinformation as censorship. Last month, Washington imposed visa bans on five Europeans combating online hate and falsehoods, including <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/media-telecom\/french-president-macron-slams-us-visa-ban-thierry-breton-others-2025-12-24\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">French former EU commissioner Thierry Breton<\/a> and anti-disinformation campaigners.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the defendants in the Macron case had claimed their comments amounted to satire, a defence the court denied.<\/p>\n<p>Bertrand Scholler, 55, a gallerist and writer, said he would appeal his six-month suspended jail sentence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is horrible. It&#8217;s abominable,&#8221; he told reporters at court. &#8220;This shows just how far French society is drifting toward less freedom of speech. Freedom of speech no longer exists.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>BRIGITTE MACRON SPEAKS<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with TF1 on Sunday night, Brigitte Macron defended her fight against cyber bullies, hoping it would be an example to others. She said the online attacks against her appeared endless, and included &#8220;people who broke into my tax website and modified my identity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She also lamented that her attackers ignored the strong evidence of her gender.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A birth certificate is not nothing. It is a father or a mother who goes to declare their child, who says who he is or who she is,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I want to help adolescents to fight against harassment, and if I do not set an example, it will be difficult.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Juliette Jabkhiro, Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Ros Russell<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/juliette-jabkhiro\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Juliette covers matters related to justice, social issues and security -\u2013 that spans race, immigration, discrimination, sexual violence and more. She has covered some of the biggest trials taking place in France in recent years and reported investigative stories on identity politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brigitte Macron has long faced falsehoods about her gender Macrons pursuing separate defamation case against Candace Owens Couple&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[202697,202019,202020,202021,201812,201806,201809,201814,201807,168743,202036,205666,202037,168735,202038,205665,201810,168728,168722,168734,201808,168723,201815,201813,168732,202022,12920,202193,2000,84751,299,84752,99594,36,124880,202023,202698,202024,7900,18794,205659,202119,202118,205660,84742,205664,205658,168737,202040,124882,168742,202018,204646,54750,205661,202026,205662,205663,326,9966,84744,84729,84750,202881,202027],"class_list":{"0":"post-676965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-cbsec","9":"tag-civ","10":"tag-clj","11":"tag-crim","12":"tag-destafa","13":"tag-destcsa","14":"tag-destg","15":"tag-destgns","16":"tag-destlby","17":"tag-destlita","18":"tag-destocatpm","19":"tag-destodat","20":"tag-destouktpm","21":"tag-destoustpm","22":"tag-destouswdm","23":"tag-destowcc","24":"tag-destpge","25":"tag-destpsc","26":"tag-destrast","27":"tag-destrbn","28":"tag-destreulb","29":"tag-destrnp","30":"tag-destrws","31":"tag-destrwsa","32":"tag-destucdptest","33":"tag-dli","34":"tag-emea","35":"tag-ent","36":"tag-eu","37":"tag-europ","38":"tag-europe","39":"tag-ezc","40":"tag-fr","41":"tag-france","42":"tag-gen","43":"tag-hrgt","44":"tag-itec","45":"tag-judic","46":"tag-legal","47":"tag-lgbt","48":"tag-lif","49":"tag-mtpix","50":"tag-mtvid","51":"tag-netsv","52":"tag-news1","53":"tag-nrlpaodat","54":"tag-nrlpaowcc","55":"tag-packageus-top-news","56":"tag-packageworld-news","57":"tag-pol","58":"tag-reuters-legal","59":"tag-rsbihuman-rights","60":"tag-rulesworld-france","61":"tag-sci","62":"tag-smed","63":"tag-soci","64":"tag-socmed","65":"tag-swit","66":"tag-tech","67":"tag-tmt","68":"tag-topcmb","69":"tag-topnws","70":"tag-weu","71":"tag-wom","72":"tag-www"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}