Magali Berdah's lawyers believe that the platform was complicit in cyberharassment, by not moderating the numerous messages broadcast by Booba.
Could Twitter (X) be condemned for not having prevented rapper Booba from targeting influencer agent Magali Berdah, in multiple messages? This December 4, the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed to BFMTV that it had received a complaint with the filing of a civil suit in November 2023, giving rise to the opening of a judicial investigation. A criminal complaint from Magali Berdah’s lawyers.
In the document, which BFMTV was able to consult, For many months, the rapper repeatedly publicly attacked Magali Berdah by associating her with illicit practices emanating from certain influencers.
Over the same period, Magali Berdah received numerous threatening or insulting messages, leading to the conviction of 28 people in early 2024. For his part, Booba was placed under judicial supervision.
Despite Twitter's passivity in the face of Booba's repeated attacks, could the platform be criminally convicted? If such an outcome cannot be ruled out, the case law does not argue in its favor. In 2023, Twitter was thus acquitted by the Paris judicial court, while the platform was prosecuted for “complicity in insults”, again due to its passivity in the face of a cyberharassment campaign targeting victims of the November 2015 attacks. .
Case law favorable to Twitter
“For Twitter, the risk is not zero, but it is low. In view of the case law, it seems unlikely that a platform will be criminally convicted, in particular for complicity in cyberharassment” estimates Alexandre Archambault, lawyer specializing in digital, from BFMTV.
To date, no platform has in fact been criminally convicted for such accusations. “We want to change the case law” hope for their part the lawyers of Magali Berdah, Rachel-Flore Pardo and Antonin Gravelin-Rodriguez, to BFMTV.
The case is all the more complex because X (Twitter) is not based in France, but in Ireland. As a large online platform, the platform is regulated at European level, under the DSA. Which makes Franco-French initiatives very uncertain.
“The room for maneuver at the national level is very limited, at least in criminal matters. In this type of case, it may be relevant to go through civil proceedings, in particular to obtain compensation” summarizes Alexandre Archambault.
“Despite the multiplication of messages from Booba against Magali Berdah, Booba has not to date been convicted of cyberharassment. Apart from that, a platform is not there to replace the judge. Maintain the responsibility of the platform in this setting seems risky” he adds.
The procedure against Twitter is reminiscent of that against Telegram, and which led to the arrest of its founder Pavel Durov. Like Twitter, Telegram is accused of complicity in crimes, for example linked to child crime or drug trafficking.
In an attempt to convict the messaging, French justice nevertheless added an additional accusation of “complicity in the administration of an online platform to allow an illicit transaction by an organized group”, more likely to be accepted by the judges to convict a legal entity.
