Read More Atheist Republic On May 24, 2022, another update in the many legal battles involving the French teenager known as Mila versus the many people who threatened her online because of videos she made speaking against Islam.
Six additional people were convicted for the same action as the previous others, with sentences ranging from three to four-month suspended prison terms and house arrest. The ages of the convicted ranged from 19 to 39. They were all ordered to pay 3,000 euros (USD 3,200) damages each to Mila.
A French court convicted six people on Tuesday for harassing a teenager online over her anti-Islam videos in a case that sparked debate about freedom of expression, blasphemy, religion and hate speech. https://t.co/iBSZoI5o0R via @RFI_En
— RFI English (@RFI_En) May 25, 2022
Mila’s threats were first known by the public in 2020 when she was 16. After she did a live broadcast on her Instagram speaking about her sexuality, she was insulted by a Muslim commenter using homophobic slurs and invoked Allah to condemn her. Mila posted her comments about Islam and other religions online. She said she hated religion, that the Qur’an was full of hate, and called it “shit.”
The online threats grew from there. Her lawyer stated that she had received nearly 100,000 harmful messages. The threats were so prevalent that she needed to accept protection from police and change schools.
After her initial threats, law enforcement arrested five people for making death threats in 2021. 13 more were accused, with 11 of them being convicted in the same year.