Free Speech

Jack Nicastro | 1.8.2026 2:49 PM

In the United States, poking fun at politicians online is a birthright. In France, it could land you in jail.

On Monday, a French court found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France's first lady, Brigitte Macron. The defendants' "crime" was falsely claiming on X that the first lady was born male and characterizing her relationship with French President Emmanuel Macron as pedophilic. (The French president met his wife when he was about 16 years old and she was a 39-year-old drama teacher at his high school.)

Defendants denied the charges against them by "saying their posts were either meant in jest or constituted legitimate debate," reports The New York Times. Unfortunately for them, this argument rang hollow for the court, which handed out........

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