- Rapper Booba launched a campaign against “thieving influencers” in 2022
- It targeted Berdah, who said her life had been “destroyed for two years” by the abuse.
More than two dozen people who took part in an online harassment campaign launched by a rapper against France’s ‘queen of influencers’ have been sentenced to prison in the country’s largest-ever cyberbullying case. the country.
The defendants, aged 20 to 49, were sentenced to sentences of four to 18 months, half of which were suspended, for sending hateful or insulting messages to social media star Magali Berdah.
Each of the 28 people convicted “was aware of the cyberharassment suffered by the victim and made the conscious choice to join in,” ruled the Paris court.
Their actions had “real consequences” for Berdah’s mental health, the judges added, with the mother-of-three revealing in court she was “about to throw herself out of a window”.
“Finally, I was recognized as a victim,” the 42-year-old told reporters. “My life was destroyed for two years because of this,” she said. “It’s a great victory.”
Berdah has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and is a well-known television personality in France
Berdah was the target of rapper Booba, who launched a campaign in 2022 against “thieving influencers” (Photo in archive image, 2019)
The defendants’ actions had “real consequences” on the mother-of-three’s mental health, the court was told.
The online abuse Berdah received included “rape threats,” “death threats” and “sometimes crude anti-Semitic insults,” according to lawyer Rachel-Flore Pardo.
The influencer was targeted by rapper Booba, who launched a campaign in 2022 against “thieving influencers” whom he accused of scamming ordinary Internet users.
He was charged with aggravated harassment, but was not among those sentenced Tuesday.
The court found that the defendants’ actions resulted from Booba’s publications, Berdah’s lawyers said in a statement.
In December, the rapper denied leading an online “mob.”
Booba is also known for a 2018 fight at a Paris airport with his former protégé Kaaris, for which each received 18-month suspended prison sentences.
Tuesday’s convictions for cyberbullying, which include fines of up to 700 euros ($760), prove that “no one is safe behind their keyboard,” Berdah’s lawyer David-Olivier told reporters. Kaminski.
The authors must also jointly offer €54,000 in compensation to the influencer.
His lawyers welcomed the verdict in what they described as “the first part” of the case and said “the fight continues.”
Berdah, of Russian and Ukrainian origin, works as a talent agent and runs several businesses
Berdah herself will be tried in Nice in September on bankruptcy and money laundering charges in a separate case
Berdahm, who is Jewish and of Russian and Ukrainian descent, said it sends “a very strong message” that justice will be served in cyberbullying cases, adding that “it is worth fighting for and we must not give up.” .
Berdah has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and is a well-known television personality, also working as a talent agent and running several businesses.
The businesswoman herself will be tried in Nice in September for bankruptcy and money laundering in another case.
Her business, an influencer agency called Shauna Events, is also under investigation for fraud.
“Nothing can justify cyberharassment, especially not the behavior of the targeted person,” said his lawyer Pardo.
