Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer with XY chromosomes who won the Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, has launched a lawsuit in the wake of massive social media pushback after his win. Included in the investigation sparked by the lawsuit Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi filed with prosecutors in Paris this week include former US President Donald Trump, Twitter (“X”) boss Elon Musk and women’s rights advocate and author JK Rowling.French prosecutors have now launched an online harassment investigation into widespread criticism posted on social media throughout the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) confirmed, per Variety. .The PPO’s special unit for dealing with online hate speech, the Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime, told the publication in a statement it had been contacted by the central hate crime office on August 13 “to conduct an investigation into the counts of cyber harassment due to gender, public insult because of gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insult because of origin.”Boudi in the lawsuit alleges Khelif is a victim of a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” after the international outcry that a boxer with male chromosomes swept each of his opponents. His first opponent Italian Angela Carini backed out of the fight after only 46 seconds. While some netizens called Khelif “transgender,” the athlete is apparently “intersex,” per Forbes, meaning Khelif was born with ambiguous reproductive organs and raised as a female — hence the female categorization on the passport, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said was enough to make him eligible to fight in the women’s event. However, Khelif according to USA Today does not “identify” as intersex either. However, biologically speaking, Khelif possesses XY chromosomes, the International Boxing Association found through “gender testing.” Khelif’s trainer has confirmed the chromosome issue. Khelif said that the spread of misconceptions surrounding his biological sex “harms human dignity.” .French internet laws allow for the prosecution of foreign individuals. Laws also allow, if the lawsuit is filed against X (indicating ambiguous, not the social media platform), as Khelif’s was, for a broad scope of anyone that might fall under the charges alleged. Boudi said though the lawsuit was filed in France, “it could target personalities overseas.” “The prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries,” he said, adding the French prosecutors have agreements in place with their US counterparts for combating online hate speech.The laws “ensure that the prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” said Boudi, adding that includes those posting under pseudonyms. .Yet, along with listing X as the defendant, the lawsuit specifically mentions Musk and Rowling, and Boudi said Trump would inevitably be included. “JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he said, noting Trump would be investigated too. “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”Though the complaint names some names, “What we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial.”“The lawsuit is filed and the facts remain,” said Khelif’s attorney, emphasizing social media platforms themselves were not targeted, but the individuals who wrote allegedly discriminating posts. “It’s the responsibility of lawmakers to issue sanctions to platforms, not ours,” he said. The lawyer said cyber harassment cases have of late been taken more seriously than in the past, and in some cases judicial authorities issue “prison sentences.”
