France’s influencers have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, with a law aimed at preventing impressionable young followers from being ‘scammed’ by false advertising and sold cheap goods by their favorite social media stars.
But criticism of their practices has in many cases led to despicable internet abuse, with Magali Berdah, known as France’s ‘queen of influencers’, this week helping to put 28 internet trolls who targeted her behind bars.
The mother-of-three told the trial she was so severely abused, including anti-Semitic and misogynistic insults, that she was ‘about to throw (herself) out the window’.
She accuses rapper Booba of encouraging trolling, and while he was not among those convicted on Tuesday, he was charged in a separate case in October for harassing the TV personality.
Both household names in France, the pair have been embroiled in a bitter feud since 2022, when Booba, real name Élie Yaffa, launched a campaign against ‘influvoleurs’ – or ‘stealing influencers’ – and accused Berdah of being their ‘pseudo-manager’ to be. .
Magali Berdah says she has received tens of thousands of messages about abuse online since 2022
Defendants’ actions had ‘real consequences’ for mother-of-three’s mental health, court was told
Booba, real name Élie Yaffa, launched a campaign against ‘influvoleurs’ – or ‘stealing influencers’ – in 2022
The rapper first went to “war” with influencers in late 2021 after blogger Marc Blata accused him of wearing a fake watch, with Booba claiming he started spreading “all kinds of lies” about him.
“From that moment on, I went to war against him on social networks,” he told French newspaper Libération.
Booba claimed he knew nothing about social media and reality TV stars, whose work he said made him “vomit”, but began exploring their world online amid the feud with Blata.
“It was the discovery of their massive fraud that revolted me,” he said in the explosive interview.
“Apart from having no talent, promoting the culture of emptiness and stupidity and not paying their taxes in France, they deceive citizens – especially teenagers – by selling them garbage,” he claimed.
His research led him to look at other social media stars and single out Berdah, who runs an influencer talent agency, as a leader in the industry.
He began addressing Berdah in a series of tweets, using his own following of more than six million followers on X to draw attention to those he accused of being “influencers.”
“This story is not a clash, it is a demand for justice,” he said at the time.
“Their totally fake world must fall,” he added. “And when it’s over, I’ll take oranges to Magali Berdah.”
Berdah has 1.7 million Instagram followers and is a well-known TV personality in France
Berdah was targeted by rapper Booba, who launched a campaign against ‘thieving influencers’ in 2022 (Pictured in file image, 2019)
Because she increasingly faced online abuse from Booba and his followers, Berdah filed a complaint against the rapper, accusing him of ‘false publications’.
“Since then I have suffered massive online harassment,” she said, and in June 2022 an investigation was opened into death threats and other online abuse she was a victim of.
She then posted a statement on Instagram claiming that she had received “69,687 threats and insults” in the span of two and a half months.
Her complaints later led to the trial, which culminated this week when more than twenty people between the ages of 20 and 49 were jailed.
Each of the 28 convicts “knew about the cyberbullying that the victim was suffering from and made a conscious choice to participate in it,” the court in Paris ruled.
Booba was not among those convicted and has denied placing himself at the head of an online ‘mob’.
However, he has been charged in a separate case with cyber-harassment of Berdah, which he denies.
The rapper is accused of “at least 487 messages on social networks” that were “directly” aimed at Ms Berdah between May 2022 and May 2023.
Despite the claims, Booba’s campaign to highlight ‘unethical’ practices by influencers has been praised by many as helping to combat false advertising and other malpractices.
Lawmakers called themselves whistleblowers and claimed the rapper, known for his number one song Mona Lisa, helped bring the issue to light.
“He is right, Booba, he is right when he points out that there are excesses (among certain influencers),” said Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire when a law was passed in June banning “commercial influencing activities through electronic resources’. 2023.
It aimed to root out online scams where influencers convince their followers to buy counterfeit products, such as miracle cures, and require them to clarify when they are paid for advertisements.
But the crackdown, along with increased criticism from internet users, “ruined” the careers of some influencers.
Berdah, who has Russian and Ukrainian descent, works as a talent agent and runs a number of companies
Reality star Julia Paredes claimed to have experienced a significant drop in income, saying in a podcast: “I’m going to tell the truth, months ago I earned 35,000 to 40,000 euros, and after the controversies we are now at 5,000 euros.”
The enormous, in many cases unfounded, criticism from influencers also seems to have damaged Berdah’s business interests.
The businesswoman announced in November that she is suing Booba for 30 million euros and accusing him of launching a smear campaign against her and her company.
She said the rapper had launched a “monstrous campaign of denigration and destabilization with the sole purpose of (her person and her associates) both being reduced to nothing.”
Berdah has 1.7 million Instagram followers and is a well-known TV personality. He also works as a talent agent and runs a number of companies.
The businesswoman herself will be tried in Nice in September for bankruptcy and money laundering in a separate case.
Her company, an influencer agency called Shauna Events, is also under investigation for fraud.
“Nothing can justify cyberbullying, especially not the behavior of the targeted person,” her lawyer said.
