J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk were among those named in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities for “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against Algerian boxer and Olympic gold-medal winner Imane Khelif.
Variety spoke with Khelif’s attorney Nabil Boudi, who confirmed their inclusion.
The Algerian boxer filed the complaint Friday against X for “moral harassment” and what Boudi referred to as a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign.”
Khelif became the center of a media firestorm two weeks ago after her opening-round opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, withdrew after 46 seconds after being unable to recover from a punch. While Carini said she was not making a political statement, everyone from Italian premier Giorgia Meloni to novelist and anti-transgender activist J.K. Rowling started spreading false claims that Khelif was a transgender woman or “genetically male,” kicking off a fierce round of culture war discussions based on hearsay and misinformation.
Since the lawsuit was filed against X (formerly Twitter), under French law it must be filed against unknown persons to “ensure that the “prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” Boudi told Variety. He also said that includes anyone who may have written hateful messages under a pseudonym. However, specific people were also mentioned in the lawsuit.
“J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he told Variety, noting that former president Donald Trump is also potentially involved. “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”
Boudi said that if the prosecution deems it, those named in the lawsuit would have to stand trial. He also noted that even though the lawsuit was filed in France, “the prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries.”
[Variety]
