Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif (red) has filed cyberbullying complaint that says Harry Potter author JK Rowling and X owner Elon Musk took part in the gendered abuse. Image source: Chabe01, via Wikimedia Commons.
French prosecutors are investigating a cyberbullying claim made by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, alleging several prominent figures took part in the harassment against her.
Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi filed the complaint to the public prosecutor’s office in Paris on Friday last week.
It claims the gold medallist was targeted by a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” as she competed in the women’s welterweight division.
On Wednesday 14 August, Boudi said Harry Potter author JK Rowling and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk were named in the lawsuit, among others.
The claim was filed against social media platforms, including X, rather than against a specific individual.
Under French law, this formulation allows investigators to determine which person or organisation may have been at fault.
Khelif was inundated with abuse after her first bout at the Paris Olympic Games, when her Italian opponent Angela Carini pulled out less than a minute into the match.
Online discourse speculated about Khelif’s gender, falsely claiming she is transgender, intersex, or a man in disguise.
In a post on X, Rowling shared a picture from Khelif’s match against Carini with the caption, “The smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) denounced the rumours and said in a statement that, “As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of athletes are based on their passport.”
Algerian law does not allow people to change their gender on official documents nor access gender affirming care, according to LGBTQ+ rights tracking website Equaldex.
Khelif told reporters, “I was born a woman, lived a woman, and competed as a woman.”
Khelif is the first Arab and African woman to win the Olympic gold medal for boxing and the first Algerian athlete to win Olympic gold since 1996.
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