Comment: The trial of Brigitte Macron's French internet trolls just encourages them

When I spoke to Brigitte Macron on the eve of her husband’s extraordinary presidential election triumph in 2017, she clearly had no idea what was about to hit her. 

She had just turned 64 – the age The Beatles sang about so beautifully, suggesting a mellow time of life when people should be settling down to enjoy the garden, or relaxed holidays on the Isle of Wight. 

Instead, the much younger Emmanuel Macron was about to become one of the most powerful men on earth, and Brigitte’s life a whirlwind of royal-style assignments, including state visits and celebrity banquets. 

By the by, the couple would be living in a palace, have multiple other official homes and servants at their disposal, and travel everywhere in limousines and private jets, all while wearing designer clothes from the finest Gallic fashion houses. While this might be considered a huge thrill, it came at a cost – a tidal wave of negative criticism.

Verdict in Brigitte Macron's transgender libel trial due in autumn

Beyond cruel commentators in the mainstream media, online platforms such as Twitter (now X), Facebook and YouTube were really getting going at the time, and tormentors were learning how to weaponise them to full effect. 

Over the years, this has clearly caused misery for Brigitte, but her biggest mistake has been taking it all so seriously. 

It is a fact that she met her future husband when he was a 15-year-old schoolboy and she was his 40-year-old drama teacher and a married mother-of- three. 

However, in the grand scheme of things, the quarter-of-a-century age gap was no more of an attack point than any other aspect of a president’s personal life. 

Sneering and finger pointing are part and parcel of human life and they obviously intensify if targets are members of an elite governing class.

When absurd fantasies are added to the insults, then it should be fairly easy to ignore. 

Mrs Macron did the opposite and – eight years on – she is preparing to be the main prosecution witness in what will undoubtedly be the biggest trial of online trolls in French history. 

Four men will appear in a Paris criminal court in July, accused of cyberstalking the First Lady. Specifically, they likened Mrs Macron “to a paedophile” and even suggested she was born a man, offering all kinds of spurious ‘evidence’ in videos and online screeds. 

The defendants technically face up to two years in prison, but – French law being what it is – small suspended terms and low fines are far more likely. 

Their defence lawyers are already complaining about “political prosecution,” and it is quite possible they will be acquitted thanks to a free speech defence in the land of Voltaire. 

In the meantime, the conspiracy theories about the Macrons will be rehearsed everywhere – from serious newspapers and TV news channels, down to the most sensationalist supermarket tabloids in the US. 

Every salacious detail will also be picked over by millions on social media. Unlike most public figures involved in politics, the Macrons came from nowhere. 

They had no loyal constituency, let alone any kind of mass ideological movement that had been backing them for decades. 

Worst of all, absolutely nobody has been protecting them from the non-stop scrutiny that accompanies their hyper-privileged presidential life together. 

“Publicity comes with the job,” Mrs Macron told me during our meeting in Paris, but she clearly did not know the extent or – crucially – what to do about it. 

Looking back on our conversation, I wish I had told her to enjoy her new life to the full and – most of all – to ignore her trolls, rather than giving them a massive global platform that they will undoubtedly exploit to the fullest.

What do you think about Brigitte Macron's fight against internet trolls? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com