The rapper is indicted for “aggravated moral harassment” in the case between him and Magali Berdah, but denies having triggered the virulent tweets received by the businesswoman.
“At no time did I seek to harass or threaten anyone.” The day after his indictment for “aggravated moral harassment” online, the rapper Booba defended himself, Tuesday October 3, in a text published on his account (ex-Twitter). “I was able to explain myself to the investigating judge,” added the artist, whose real name is Elie Yaffa. His interrogation took place as part of the investigation opened at the national center for the fight against online hatred of the Paris prosecutor’s office, after numerous complaints filed against Booba by Magali Berdah, founder and director of the influencer agency. Shauna Events.
The dispute between this 41-year-old businesswoman and the 46-year-old rapper dates back to spring 2022. At the time, Booba strived to denounce, on social networks, the “influvoleurs”, these influencers whom he accuses multiple scams against Internet users. The rapper then filed a complaint against X for deceptive commercial practices, which gave rise to the opening of a preliminary investigation, which is still ongoing. In his crusade against the practices of influencers, Booba targets Magali Berdah more precisely. “He harassed me personally”said the director of Shauna Events, guest of BFMTV Tuesday evening. “I was put on a pyre, alive, to burn”she denounced.
A “snowball effect”
“Threats”, “insults”… Magali Berdah claims to have received thousands of hateful messages every day, for months. On April 20, she announced on franceinfo that she had identified “more than 120,000” in almost a year, including “several hundred” coming from Booba himself, whom she considers responsible for this surge. On the contrary, the rapper absolves himself of any responsibility for the content of Internet users’ messages. And is defined as a “alert launcher” including L’“action was motivated by a single goal: to denounce the influencers”. Contacted by franceinfo, Booba’s lawyer does not wish to comment on a current procedure.
“It goes without saying that without her notoriety and her community of more than 6 million people, Magali Berdah’s cyberharassment would never have reached such an extent. There is a snowball effect.” say the businesswoman’s lawyers.
Online harassment in packs, also called “digital raid”, is defined by the law of August 3, 2018. Thus, in addition to “repeated words or behaviors” who have “for effect” “an alteration of [la] physical or mental health of the targeted person, the offense of harassment is also constituted when the messages “are imposed on the same victim by several people, in a concerted manner or at the instigation of one of them”, according to article 222-33-2-2 of the Penal Code.
“Finding the first author of the message is useful for the investigation”
“The first to publish a message is not necessarily the one who is prosecuted. It is not the order of publication that matters to investigators, but the violence of the messages. The most hateful are subject to requisitions from the operators to identify the authors”explains Nicolas Verly, lawyer specializing in press and media law. “Everything depends on the content of the first message posted and the intention of its author, who is not necessarily accused of harassment, but can be accused of insult or defamation,” he continues.
“If we find that the harassment is taking place at the instigation of the author of the message, we can consider that he is responsible, and therefore complicit in the harassment.”
Nicolas Verly, lawyerat franceinfo
It doesn’t matter whether you are an accomplice to harassment or a harasser: the sanction incurred is the same. “The author of the first message initiates the harassment, but the group effect contributes to it. They all become accomplices”, confirms to franceinfo the Information and Communication Service of the National Police (Sicop). Who adds that “if the Internet user has a large following, by logical effect, the harassment has more visibility.” “Finding the first author of the message is necessarily useful for the investigation: it is the initial point”, underlines Sicop.
“The instigator has an additional share of responsibility”
Identifying the instigator of the harassment is part of the investigation, but the rest takes place in the courts. “Investigators must identify the perpetrators, and then charge the jurisdiction to establish the role and participation of each person,” summarizes Ilana Soskin, also specialized in press and media law. The lawyer cites as an example a complaint she filed, in which she identified the person behind an outpouring of hatred on an Instagram account. “This is important. The instigator bears additional responsibility for inciting others to hatred”she considers.
The distinction is reflected in the sentence handed down. For harassment, the penalty provided for in the Penal Code is one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros. “The principle of individualization of the sentence applies. The text of the law is the same for everyone, but the instigator may have a different sentence,” explains Ilana Soskin. “The judge must justify the sentence and do so based on the seriousness of the comments, the number of messages and the attitude at the hearing,” completes his colleague Nicolas Verly. With one objective in mind: to send a strong message to fight against impunity on the internet.