Mathilde Gerner, better known by her artist pseudonym Hoshi, won her trial on June 2, 2023 against Maël H., convicted of having harassed the singer online in February 2020.
Three years after the initial complaint was filed, the trial was held at the Paris Criminal Court, with in particular 8 months in prison, including 2 months firm, pronounced against the defendant.
Further case law against online harassment
It’s a (small) victory in a physical and virtual world plagued by harassment. Singer Hoshi won her case after filing a lawsuit for “ moral and sexual harassment in packs », « aggravated insults », « death and rape threats ” And ” incitement to hatred shortly after his performance at the Victoires de la Musique 2020, in February of the same year. The artist had notably performed his title there love censorship and kissed one of the dancers participating in the choreography at the end of the performance. In a letter read at trial by his lawyer, Maître Laura Ben Kemoun, Hoshi stated that he had ” received thousands of messages filled with homophobic insults, death threats, rape threats and so on in the aftermath of the show.
Harassment takes various forms on a daily basis, and technology is unfortunately not left out, whether using an object such as the AirTag, or even within a company like Ubisoft. Here, everything would have started, according to the police investigation, from the Blabla 18-25 forum affiliated with Jeuxvideo.com. Yet already pinned too many times for the cyberbullying campaigns that it hosts in spite of itself, this forum has notably served as a launching pad for the messages received and denounced by Hoshi. Law No. 2020-766 of June 24, 2020 aimed at combating hateful content on the Internet, despite everything in force, seems limited for the time being.
Make it work for force him out from behind his computer “, according to the wish of the magistrate
In total, 8 accounts for 6 individuals were identified during the police investigation, with only one person of legal age at the time of the events, Maël H. Finally sentenced to 8 months suspended prison sentence, including 2 months closed with adjustment potential of his sentence, this individual appears above all to be the tip of the iceberg. Absent from the trial just like Hoshi, Maël H. notably declared during his police custody “ not to have thought of evil “. He had, however, urged other members (” kheys “) from forum 18-25 to ” create disposable addresses to participate in the online harassment campaign by minimizing the risk of being spotted.
” I didn’t think you would find me “: these are the words spoken to the investigators by Maël H. He also declared to have Asperger’s syndrome, without it being able to be diagnosed during the investigation, or to have experienced a ” hard time at the time of the facts. These reasons invoked by the defendant did not prevent him from also being sentenced to a fine of 5,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage, from being prohibited from entering into contact with Hoshi, as well as an obligation of care , but also work.
If you are the victim of online harassment, dial 3018 (reachable 7 days a week, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.), download the 3018 app (Android and iOS) or exchange by chat on the 3018.fr website.
Source : BFM TV
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