Chicago – August 15,2024
French prosecutors have opened a probe into a cyberbullying claim made by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who has filed a case alleging that several prominent figures had taken part in online harassment over her gender.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said Harry Potter author JK Rowling, X owner Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump have been named in the complaint filed by Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi.
However, the claim was filed against social media platforms including X, and not against a specific individual, a common formulation under French law that leaves it up to investigators to determine which person or organisation may have been at fault.
The prosecutor’s office said its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime has opened an investigation on charges of “cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insults on the basis of origin”.
Khelif, who was at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, is Algeria’s first gold medallist in women’s boxing. She is also the country’s first athlete to win an Olympic gold since 1996.
