Elon Musk and JK Rowling could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to £214,000 if Olympic boxer Imane Khelif wins cyberbullying case

Elon Musk and JK Rowling could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to £214,000 if boxer Imane Khelif, who is competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, wins her case against them after Khelif implicated the pair in a criminal case for “cyberbullying”.

Tech billionaire Musk and Harry Potter author Rowling were among the prominent figures at the forefront of the controversy over Khelif’s participation in this summer’s Games, where the Algerian fighter won gold.

Now Khelif has filed a lawsuit with the French authorities for ‘aggravated cyber harassment’. The possible penalties for this have now been announced. There is also the possibility that more well-known names could be targeted.

The 25-year-old Olympic athlete, who is not a transgender woman, is said to have male ‘XY chromosomes’, leading to her disqualification from the 2023 world championships.

At the time, she failed an unknown gender test administered by the now-banned International Boxing Association. The International Olympic Committee instead took charge of boxing events at the 2024 Paris competitions.

Her participation in the Games against female boxers led to protests from many, including Musk and Rowling, as well as some of her defeated competitors. But she also received support from others who supported her right to fight.

Nabil Boudi, the gold medalist’s Paris-based lawyer, has now told Variety Musk and Rowling were both named in the criminal complaint filed last week with the Public Prosecution Service’s anti-online hate center.

Possible repercussions for cyberbullying in France include prison sentences of two to five years and fines of £26,000 to £39,000.

If perpetrators are prosecuted for online hate speech, they could even be fined between £64,000 and £214,000.

Mr Boudi said Khelif was bringing the lawsuit as part of her “fight for justice, dignity and honour”.

The complaint was against Musk’s social network X, formerly Twitter, which under French law means the complaint was filed against “unknown persons.”

The lawyer explained that this gives the Public Prosecution Service ‘complete freedom to investigate all persons’, including those who have spread hateful messages under a pseudonym.

“JK Rowling and Elon Musk are among those named in the lawsuit,” he wrote on X, noting that former US President Donald Trump would also be part of the investigation.

He said: ‘What we are asking is that the Public Prosecution Service investigate not only these people, but also anyone else who it deems necessary. If the case goes to court, they will be tried.’

He added that although the lawsuit was filed in France, it “could also target individuals abroad.”

“Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will be investigated as part of the prosecution,” he added.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into Khelif’s complaint of online harassment, the Paris prosecutor’s office said today – without naming specific names.

The Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes is investigating allegations of “cyberbullying based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination, and public insults based on ethnicity.”

The news comes just days after Khelif won the gold medal in the women’s 66kg boxing competition.

She emerged victorious after a massive campaign that saw her face a barrage of questions about her gender.

In a post on X, Rowling shared a photo of Khelif’s fight with Italian Angela Carini. She accused the Algerian of being a man who “relishes in the pain of a woman he has just hit on the head.”

Musk reshared a post by former American competitive swimmer Riley Gaines, in which he argued that “men have no place in women’s sports.” The SpaceX boss added: “Absolutely.”

Meanwhile, Trump wrote, “I will keep men out of women’s sports,” alongside a snapshot of Khelif’s fight with Carini.

The backlash against the boxer began when Carini gave up their fight after just 46 seconds after she was hit twice, probably suffered a broken nose and was barely able to throw a punch.

The Italian then knelt down, punched the canvas in frustration and refused to shake Khelif’s hand, conceding her victory.

In the meantime, Olympic leaders have doubled down on their decision to allow Khelif – And Taiwan‘s Lin Yu-ting – to participate after being disqualified from the 2023 World Championship.

Shortly after the event, the IBA was stripped of its status by the IOC due to governance issues and alleged corruption.

“Everyone has the right to participate in sport without discrimination,” the IOC said in a statement, which also criticized “misleading information regarding two female athletes.”

“The IOC is saddened by the insults currently being inflicted on the two athletes.”

Khelif has since returned to Algeria, where she was welcomed by the country’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and then by her family in her birthplace of Ain Mesbah.

Her former coach Mustapha Bensaou said the boxer’s complaint was filed in France by Algerian authorities and “should be a lesson in defending the rights and honour (of athletes) in Algeria and the rest of the world”.

He told the Associated Press news agency: ‘All those involved will be prosecuted for violating Imane’s dignity and honour.

“The attacks on Imane were meant to break her and undermine her morale. Thank God she prevailed.”

Some sports have restrictions on the amount of testosterone athletes can produce in women’s competitions, while other sports ban anyone who has already reached male puberty.

Sexual dysfunction disorders are a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones, and reproductive organs.

Some people with DSD are raised as female, but have XY sex chromosomes and blood testosterone levels similar to males.

According to the IOC, the rules of participation are based on those of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and cannot be changed during a competition.