Mila affair

The Mila affair (French: Affaire Mila) is a French media and judicial case relating to freedom of speech and cyberbullying. After a man invoking Islam directed misogynistic and homophobic insults at "Mila" when she rejected his inappropriate sexual advances, she answered that "Islam is shit". The 16-year-old was then threatened with death and rape by numerous people online, which caused her to leave school and to be placed under police protection.

Original facts

On 18 January 2020, "Mila", a 16-year-old female singer in the Isère region in eastern France, made a live-stream with followers and talked with them about their love life, and answered to one of them that she indeed wasn't "particularly attracted to Arab and Black women". ^{[1] [2]} Later on the stream, a man flirted with her inappropriately and she rejected him. The man responded with a series of misogynistic and homophobic insults in the name of "Allah", including "dirty whore", "dirty lesbian" and "dirty racist". Mila later made a story (available for 24 hours) on social media stating that "there's nothing but hate in the Quran. Islam is shit." The video was copied and widely shared on social media. ^[3]

After her video clip went viral, she received over 100,000 hate messages, including death or rape threats, edited videos of her being hurt in various ways; the haters also published the address of her school. ^[4]

Mila later received the tile of France’s ‘teenage Rushdie’ because of parallels drawn to British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie who had fallen into controversy with angry Muslim extremists in the late 1980s for voicing his opinion. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

She and her family were consequently forced to live under 24-hour police protection per decision of the interior minister Christophe Castaner, and she has not been able to attend school since then. ^[8]

On 3 February, she appeared in a TV interview where she stated "I am not a racist, not at all. You can’t be racist about a religion. I said what I thought, I am completely in my rights. I don’t regret it at all." ^{[9] [10]} She also announced that she would be filing a lawsuit against some of the people who harassed her with death threats, being represented by Richard Malka, who had previously represented Charlie Hebdo in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. ^[11]

On 14 November 2020, she made another livestream criticising Islam, declaring that her detractors should "keep an eye on your buddy Allah because my fingers are still up his asshole and I'm not taking them out." ^[12] The video led to another wave of harassment and threats.

In March 2021, her Twitter account was briefly suspended after a mass reporting campaign by the people harassing her. ^{[13] [14]}

Public reactions

This sparked a nationwide debate on the freedom of expression, Muslims, and the right to blaspheme. Blasphemy is not criminalized in France, and the initial police investigation against the girl's online comments was found to be without merit. ^{[4] [8]}

The hashtag #JenesuispasMila ("I am not Mila") was widely used, along with the #JesuisMila ("I am Mila") one. ^[15] According to a February 2020 poll, 53% of people in France support Mila and half of them are in favor of a right of blasphemy (half being against), which was seen as surprisingly low. ^[16]

Politicians

The Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, said that "insulting religion is serious" and is "obviously a breach of freedom of thoughts", but later said that she regretted her "clumsy" words. ^[17] Ségolène Royal, argued that the case shouldn't be presented as a martyr in the debate about secularism in France and that "the right to criticise a religion doesn't mean you should do it without respect." ^[18]

On 12 February 2020, Emmanuel Macron defended the girl's right of freedom of speech, stating that we forget here that we are talking about a 16-year-old girl. ^[19] La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon stated that "in this country, we don't threaten to kill people because they have an opinion we don't like." ^[20]

Activists and public figures

Several associations, such as the Representative Council of France's Black Associations, Collectif NousToutes, Femen, Osez le féminisme !, and SOS Homophobie, issued statements denouncing the harassment. ^{[21] [22] [23]} Mila criticized feminists and LGBT associations for not supporting her in their majority. ^[24]

Both left- and right-wing commentators, such as Eugénie Bastié and Amar Bellal, have criticized the silence of French feminists and left-wing activists on the affair. ^{[25] [26]} Annie Sugier, former president of the Ligue du droit international des femmes, argued that the French press had failed to cover the statements released by feminist organizations supporting Mila. ^[27] Alice Coffin argued that the perception of feminist lack of support for Mila was being weaponized to attack feminist activists in France. ^[28]

Feminist journalist Lauren Bastide said that she does not publicly support Mila, stating "I do not share her world vision, which is racist and disrespectful of French Muslims". ^[29] The philosopher Marylin Maeso said that Bastide lied by writing that Mila is a racist and described Mila as "a young homosexual who only said what she thought of beliefs that were thrown at her to dehumanize her as a lesbian and criticized Lauren Bastide as not a real feminist.". ^[30]

Religious

In January 2020, Abdallah Zekri, an executive officer of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), on Sud Radio, said he was against the threats against her, but also said "you reap what you sow" and that she had to "bear the consequences of what she said". ^[31] The president of the CFCM, Mohammed Moussaoui, speaking in the name of the CFCM in an official statement, said that the organisation denounced any form of threat and said that the words "she asked for it" by Zekri were "inappropriate". ^[32]

On 8 July 2021, Mila made a 2-hour private tour of the Grand Mosque of Paris at the invitation of its dean, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, who is a friend and colleague of her lawyer, Malka. The tour included prayer rooms normally forbidden to visitors. Hafiz offered her a rose colored copy of the Quran. Mila said it was a "friendly visit" and a "very important token of peace". ^[33]

Criminal trials

In October 2020, a 23-year-old person was sentenced to three years in prison for sending death threats online. ^[4]

In July 2021, eleven out of thirteen accused were found guilty of online harassment in a trial in Paris. ^{[4] [6]} They received suspended prison sentences between four and six months plus each paying 1500 euros in damages to the victim along with each paying 1000 euros towards her legal fees. ^[6] Mila thanked her parents, her lawyer, the police who protected her and the few feminists and antiracist NGOs who supported her. ^[6] Two of the defendants made an appeal, and received more severe sentences. The first one, who threatened her to "do her a Samuel Paty" if she tells him where she lives, received a suspended prison sentence of two years. The second one received a suspended sentence of one year. Her lawyer, Malka, stated: "What I felt at the hearing was that these two defendants had not understood the seriousness of what they were accused of and had no regrets. Obviously, the court felt the same way, since it quadrupled and tripled their sentences". ^[34]

Book

In June 2021, Mila published a book about the affair entitled Je suis le prix de votre liberté (I am the price of your liberty). ^{[35] [36]}

References

1. "Que recouvre l'affaire Mila ?".
2. "RÉCIT. Affaire Mila : Comment une story sur Instagram a dégénéré en une polémique publique". 3 June 2021.
3. Champenois, Sabrina; Moran, Anaïs. "Affaire Mila : d'Instagram au Sénat, itinéraire d'une polémique". Libération.
4. Multiple sources:
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   • Lara Marlowe (February 11, 2020). "French teenager's remarks about Islam spark national debate". Paris: The Irish Times. Irish Times Trust. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • Breeden, Aurelien (July 6, 2021). "A French Teenager's Anti-Islam Rant Unleashed Death Threats. Now 13 Are on Trial". The New York Times . The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • Agence France-Presse (June 3, 2021). "Thirteen on trial over online threats to French teen who insulted Islam". The Guardian . Paris. Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • "France charges teens for death threats over anti-Islam remarks". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN). June 17, 2020. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • Sage, Adam (June 4, 2021). "'Mila' trial: 13 in the dock over threats to French teenager who insulted Islam". The Times . Paris. News Corp. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • Williams, Stuart; Daudin, Guillaume (June 22, 2021). "French teen critical of Islam becomes center of free speech debate". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
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   • Kilickaya, Belkis (February 26, 2020). "The Right to Blaspheme, the Mila Case, and Islamophobia in France". politicstoday.org. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
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   • Klapper, Rebecca (June 22, 2021). "13 Youths Face Charges in Cyberbullying Case of Girl Who Harshly Criticized Islam". Newsweek. IBT Media. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
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   • Oshin, Olafimihan (March 6, 2021). "13 people go on trial over cyberbullying, death threats against French teen". The Hill . Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
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   • Sweeney, Oisin (February 10, 2021). "French Teen Receives Wave of Death Threats After Criticising Islam". Fuengirola, Malaga, Spain: EuroWeekly News (EWN). EWN Media SA. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • "13 on trial in Paris for cyberbullying, threats against teen". Honolulu, Hawaii: Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Black Press Group Ltd. June 3, 2021. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
   • Vaux-Montagny, Nicolas (July 7, 2021). "France: 11 convicted of cyberbullying teen who slammed Islam". Yahoo! Finance. Verizon Media. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
5. Peter Conradi (January 24, 2021). "France's 'teenage Rushdie' earns 50,000 death threats with one jibe at Islam". The Times . Paris. News Corp. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
6. "Affaire Mila : ses cyberharceleurs condamnés à des peines de 4 à 6 mois de prison avec sursis". LEFIGARO (in French). 7 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
7. "Debatte in Frankfreich: 16-Jährige nach derber Islam-Kritik unter Polizeischutz". Kölnische Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-09.
8. "Die Affäre Mila und die Blasphemie". www.fr.de (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau. 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
9. "Free speech vs Islamophobia: A teenager fuels debate in France".
10. "Affaire Mila : " face à la terreur ", les parents dénoncent l'inertie de l'école". 17 June 2020.
11. "Haftstrafen für den "digitalen Lynchmob" im Fall Mila". hpd.de (in German). 8 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
12. "Mila publie une nouvelle vidéo polémique sur l'islam, les menaces pleuvent".
13. "Twitter suspend le compte de l'iséroise Mila : Elle avait reçu une bordée d'injures pour un dessin...de maternelle". 15 March 2021.
14. "Le compte Twitter de Mila brièvement suspendu, la plateforme pointée du doigt". 15 March 2021.
15. "On vous résume l'affaire Mila, après la condamnation de onze de ses cyberharceleurs". 21 June 2021.
16. "Affaire Mila : les Français partagés à 50/50 sur le droit au blasphème". LCI. 4 February 2020.
17. "Polémique. Affaire Mila : Belloubet "regrette" ses propos". www.ledauphine.com.
18. "Ni Mila ni Charlie : Pour Ségolène Royal, la lâcheté plutôt que la laïcité". 3 February 2020.
19. à 08h36, Par Le Parisien avec AFP Le 12 février 2020; À 10h24, Modifié Le 12 Février 2020 (February 12, 2020). "Affaire Mila : Macron réaffirme le "droit au blasphème" et son soutien à la jeune fille harcelée". leparisien.fr.
20. "Affaire Mila: "Dans ce pays, on ne menace pas de mort les gens parce qu'ils ont une opinion qui déplaît", déclare Jean-Luc Mélenchon".
21. "Affaire Mila : Les associations condamnent, sans être entendues". Libération.
22. "Affaire Mila, cyber-harcèlement, misogynie, technologie, laïcité : vers une nouvelle culture de l'insulte ?". France Culture. 27 June 2021.
23. "FEMEN: Vive le droit au blasphème ! Soutien à Mila !".
24. ""Je ne vois pas mon avenir" : les nouvelles confidences de Mila dans "C à Vous"". midilibre.fr.
25. "Tribune libre affaire mila. La gauche ne peut plus rester silencieuse". 9 February 2020.
26. "Eugénie Bastié: "L'étrange silence d'une partie des féministes sur l'affaire Mila"". 3 February 2020.
27. "Affaire Mila : "Non Marlène Schiappa, les féministes n'ont pas fait preuve de lâcheté"". 7 February 2020.
28. "Affaire Mila : Pourquoi les féministes ne sont pas toutes derrière elle ?". 13 July 2021.
29. ""Je ne soutiens pas Mila" : Lauren Bastide, la féministe qui n'a pas inventé la poudre". 25 June 2021.
30. "Marylin Maeso : l'Incompréhensible refus de la féministe Lauren Bastide de soutenir Mila". 28 June 2021.
31. Mathoux, Hadrien (24 Jan 2020). "Mila, harcelée pour avoir critiqué l'islam : "Elle l'a cherché, elle assume" estime le délégué général du CFCM". www.marianne.net (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-15.
32. "Abdallah Zekri/Mila: Face à la polémique, le CFCM publie une mise au point". 28 January 2020.
33. "Mila, en visite à la Grande mosquée de Paris, espère " l'apaisement "". www.20minutes.fr. 8 July 2021.
34. "Affaire Mila : Peines alourdies en appel pour deux prévenus". Le Monde.fr. 31 January 2023.
35. "Affaire Mila, cyber-harcèlement, misogynie, technologie, laïcité : Vers une nouvelle culture de l'insulte ?". France Culture. 27 June 2021.
36. ""Je suis le prix de votre liberté» : Un livre-plaidoyer pour qu'il n'y ait «plus jamais une autre Mila"".