Imane Khelif Cyberbullying Lawsuit

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Part of a series on Imane Khelif vs. Angela Carini Boxing Bout Controversy. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Imane Khelif Cyberbullying Lawsuit refers to a lawsuit filed by Algerian boxer and Olympian Imane Khelif after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned the quarter-final match 46 seconds into its start at the 2024 Summer Paris Olympics, sparking controversy and debate about Khelif's gender, largely from conservatives online. The lawsuit was filed in mid-August 2024 against X / Twitter in Paris, France and mentions alleged transphobic posts made by author J.K. Rowling, entrepreneur Elon Musk, former President Donald Trump, influencer Logan Paul and many others who posted alleged cyberbullying content against the Algerian boxer.

Background

On August 12th, 2024, Variety^[1] revealed that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif filed a complaint over online harassment in Paris, alleging that the 25-year-old athlete was bullied on social media after her bout against Angela Carini went viral and resulted in "transvestigation" inquiries. Khelif's disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the 2023 Women’s World Championships after she failed a gender eligibility test due to elevated levels of testosterone in her system was used by netizens to allege she is not a cis woman, even though she was born female and does not identify as transgender or intersex.

That day, Variety posted the article to its official X / Twitter account, receiving over 16,400 views, in two days (shown below).

Developments

J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk Cyberbullying Allegations

On August 13th, 2024, Variety^[2] then exclusively revealed that J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk were both named in the cyberbullying lawsuit filed to French authorities by Khelif, alleging "acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against the Algerian boxer. The tweet (seen below, left) amassed more than 90,000 likes and 25,000 reposts in a day.

Rowling^[3] tweeted on August 1st, 2024, that Khelif was 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 post (seen below, right) received more than 449,000 likes and 123,000 reposts in a week.

Musk did not make a direct post about Imane Khelif's gender, however, he replied "Absolutely" to an August 1st post from American swimmer Riley Gaines which said, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini.” The tweet has since been deleted, but the X account @DailyLoud^[4] shared a screenshot of the repost overlaid on an image of swimmer Lia Thomas on August 1st, amassing roughly 975 likes and 118 reposts in a week (seen below).

As of August 14th, 2024, neither Rowling nor Musk commented on the cyberbullying allegations.

J.K. Rowling Deleted Tweets

For two weeks after the lawsuit was filed, J.K. Rowling had not tweeted. She had also deleted 27 tweets, as pointed out by multiple sources online. News that she had "deleted tweets" led to a false impression that Rowling had deleted her tweets about Khelif in a panic. However, this was not the case, and Rowling's defamatory tweets about the boxer were never deleted. Rowling resumed tweeting on August 23rd.^[8]

Online Reactions

J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk's mention in the cyberbullying lawsuit sparked a series of memes and jokes on social media, many criticizing their posts as "hateful" against Imane Khelif. For instance, on August 13th, 2024, X^[5] user @tastefullysaucy posted a reaction video captioning it, "IMANE KHELIF IS SUING ELON MUSK AND JK ROWLING!!" The post (seen below) amassed more than 1.8 million views and 167,000 likes in a day.

On August 12th, TikTok^[6] user @londonkingdiaries posted a video with Fifith Harmony's "That's My Girl" song, commenting on Khelif's lawsuit (seen below, left). The post received more than 24,000 plays and 5,200 likes in two days.

On August 13th, 2024, TikTok^[7] user @chebasoumia used the Very Demure, Very Mindful viral sound and meme to post about Imane Khelif's lawsuit (seen below, right), amassing over 26,000 likes in a day.