It is reported that recently, the Criminal Court in Paris, France, made a judgment on a case of collective cyber violence, and a total of 28 people were convicted, 14 of whom were sentenced to 4-18 months’ imprisonment respectively, and the remaining 14 were sentenced to probation. The French media called the case “the largest cyber violence case to date” in the country.
It is reported that the victim’s name is Magali Belda, 42 years old. A popular lifestyle and fashion expert enjoys a good reputation in France, and she also runs her own online celebrity marketing company. She was once called the “godmother of online celebrity” in France. Since 2022, Beida has been harassed by many netizens. She said that she and her marketing company received tens of thousands of hate and insulting messages, involving a large number of death threats and violent remarks. Belda said that he was almost forced to “commit suicide by jumping off a building” by these harassing messages.
In this cyber violence case that aroused widespread concern, 28 defendants argued that their original intention was to expose the alleged false commercial propaganda of the victim Beida and his company. Most of them also mentioned Babu, a famous French rapper. It is said that since 2022, Babu has publicly criticized Beida and other online celebrities for online fraud, and triggered a social media campaign with the theme of “anti-online celebrity”.
Although Babu denied that he was the leader behind the actions of the 28 defendants, AFP’s investigation revealed the prosecution’s suspicion of him: they believed that Babu published at least 487 social media messages directed at Beida from May 2022 to May 2023. In addition, Babuin had a fight with another rapper at the Paris airport in 2018 and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. In this cyber violence case, Babu was charged with “cyber moral harassment” and was not tried with 28 other defendants.
The Paris Criminal Court ruled that 28 defendants (including 26 men and 2 women, aged between 20 and 49) from all over France were fined 300 to 700 euros (about 2,340 to 5,460 yuan) for joining the victims despite knowing that they were subjected to cyber violence, and they had to pay 54,000 euros in compensation to the victims together.
Beida’s lawyer stressed that the verdict showed that “no one can hide behind the Internet”. At the same time, Beida is facing money laundering charges, and its marketing company is also under fraud investigation by the judicial department.
Post time: Mar-25-2024