Ten people were on Monday found guilty by a Paris Court having been found guilty of cyberbullying France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron.
The defendants were accused of spreading false information about Macron’s gender and sexuality.
They had reportedly peddled a conspiracy theory that first lady was born a man, and other comments contained false information alleging pedophilia, which the court labeled “particularly degrading, insulting and malicious.”
Those charged, according to report gleaned from dw.com included eight men and two women aged between 41 and 65. Among the defendants are an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist, as well as two well-known bloggers.
“Some of them said in court that their comments were meant as a joke, adding they did not understand the reason behind them being prosecuted.
“Some of the posts had tens of thousands of views”, dw.com had reported.
However, the sentences handed down Monday included one ordered to undergo cyberbullying training. Eight defendants got suspended prison sentences of four to eight months, and another man bagged six months in prison.
On Sunday, she reportedly told French national outlet TF1 that the legal proceedings she launched are meant to “set an example” in the fight against online harassment.
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