A Paris court has delivered a landmark verdict, finding ten individuals guilty of orchestrating a sustained campaign of cyberbullying against Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Malicious Campaign and Its Impact
The defendants, eight men and two women aged between 41 and 65, were convicted for spreading vicious online falsehoods. Since 2017, they propagated the baseless and "particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious" rumour that the First Lady was a transgender woman, often linking it to the couple's age difference. Brigitte Macron is 72, while the President is 48.
Although she did not attend the trial hearings in October, Brigitte Macron informed authorities that the persistent claims had "strongly affected" her. Her testimony was supported by her younger daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, 41, who told the court the phoney allegations had damaged her mother's health.
"She’s constantly having to pay attention to what she wears, how she holds herself because she knows that her image can be distorted," Auzière stated, highlighting the personal toll of the harassment.
The Court's Sentence and Wider Message
On Monday, January 5, 2026, the court handed down its judgment. Each of the ten convicted trolls received an eight-month suspended prison sentence. Crucially, they were also ordered to complete mandatory anti-cyberbullying training courses.
This case sets a significant legal precedent in France for tackling coordinated online harassment, especially when it targets public figures with defamatory and deeply personal slurs. The court's ruling sends a clear message about the serious consequences of such digital abuse.
A Pattern of Toxic Online Behaviour
The conviction focuses on a specific, long-running smear campaign that exploited the age gap between the Macrons to fuel bizarre and harmful conspiracy theories. The rumours falsely accused Brigitte Macron of being both a trans woman and a paedophile, demonstrating the extreme and often contradictory nature of online hate speech.
The verdict is seen as a victory for those seeking to hold individuals accountable for the real-world harm caused by systematic online harassment, even when it is disguised as political commentary or gossip.
