Imane Khelif said goodbye to the Paris Games with a gold medal around her neck. But her name was already famous long before she defeated Yang Liu from China in the women’s boxing final in the 66 kg category. It was even before the much-talked about (and controversial) fight in which she defeated Angela Carini in less than 50 seconds. Khelif’s name had been floating around for a long time because she was one of two boxers who came to the Olympics, standing out because of their testosterone levels and their supposed “competitive advantages” over other women, an argument that the IBA association used last year to separate them from the World Cup.

For Khelif, this revelation has now become a “cyber incident” that he has decided to officially report to the French justice system, and in his lawsuit he specifically refers to media figures such as Elon Musk and JK Rowling.

From networks to court. The news was announced only by the magazine Diversity: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has filed a criminal complaint with the French authorities for what she understands as “aggravated acts of cyberbullying”. This was announced by the Olympic athlete’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi.

Not only that. The Associated Press (AP), which also verified the case, assures that Imane Khelif’s initiative has already produced consequences in French justice. After receiving the complaint, the French Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation. The case fell to the office responsible for “hate speech”, which is investigating the charges of “online harassment based on gender, public insult based on gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insult based on origin”.

Focusing on networksGiven its nature, Khelif’s case points to the platform Diversity— does not target a specific user. The goal, Boudi argues, is for the DA’s Office to have “complete freedom” when investigating users who may have shared hateful messages, without limiting its focus to any particular person or regardless of whether it was done under pseudonymity.

The AP goes further, noting that the complaint focuses on all social networks, including X, without focusing on anyone. This is not a strange strategy in French justice, and is intended to give the authorities space to investigate and decide who committed the crime, if the crime is confirmed.

…And some proper names. This does not mean that there are no names in the complaint. There are. Especially from people in the media and with millions of followers on X, as Boudi confirmed to the American magazine: “The lawsuit also names JK Rowling and Elon Musk, among others.”

When asked about the Republican candidate for the White House, Donald Trump, Boudi, who even referred to Khelif as a young woman who “transitioned from a man to a boxer”, assured that the politician also “tweeted”, so “he was not on the sidelines”. Whether or not his name was mentioned in the case will be investigated by the prosecutor’s office.

“Let the prosecutor’s office investigate”. That’s Boudi’s aim. While the lawsuit names specific names, Khelif’s lawyer explained that the prosecutor’s office’s aim is to “investigate” the “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” that Khelif was subjected to, without limiting itself to just those specifically named.

The fact that the case was filed in France will not pose a problem in terms of reaching people in other countries. Or so the lawyer puts it, reminding that authorities responsible for combating “hate speech” on the internet can submit “mutual legal assistance requests” in other countries.

A very (very) loud gold. News of the case comes just days after the Algerian boxer defeated China’s Yang Liu to win the Olympic gold medal in her category. But the athlete was making headlines long before she stepped onto the podium. The reason? Khelif arrived in Paris with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting amid a controversy that stretches back to at least 2023, when the International Boxing Association (IBA) decided to remove both young women from the New Delhi World Cup for meeting “eligibility requirements” to fight other women.

The IBA later claimed that both Khelif and Yu-ting had “competitive advantages over other competitors” who changed the championship. The decision created dust for several reasons. Both boxers were disqualified when Yu-ting had already won the bronze medal and the Algerian was preparing to compete in the final. The IBA official also suggested to the TASS agency, without naming them, that he was forced to expel “athletes who disguise themselves as women”.

Reflection in networksNeither Khelif nor Yu-ting has ever identified as transgender, male or intersex. While the Olympic organization insists that both boxers meet all the requirements to compete in the women’s categories, both have found themselves at the center of a particularly intense (and bloody) media storm on social media.

It didn’t matter the IOC’s determination, the Olympic organisers’ insistence that they were relying on passports, or the fact that Khelif represented Algeria, a country that does not allow gender reassignment, the noise was overwhelming. And there were those, like Italian politician Matteo Salvini, who took to the media to claim that the Algerian boxer was transgender. Without providing any evidence, of course.

What about Rowling and Musk? They also spoke. The creator of the Harry Potter saga and the first of them, who has 14.2 million followers on X, published a tweet in which he criticized what happened after the fight in which Khelif defeated Angela Carini in 46 seconds. “They took everything that a young woman has worked and trained for because they allowed a man to enter the ring. They are a disgrace, their ‘protection’ is a joke and Paris 2024 will be tarnished forever.”

Elon Musk also entered the fray by retweeting swimmer Riley Gaines’ assurance that “men do not belong in women’s sports,” to which he responded with a heartfelt “Absolutely.”

Images | Wikipedia (Algerian Press Service) and Daniel Ogren (Flickr)

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