Insulted on social media: what to do about online harassment in France

Every day, insulting messages land under your posts or in your inbox. Sometimes dozens of accounts pile on at once. Online harassment is not something you have to accept: French law punishes it, and you can act today. A lawyer can review your situation in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

This article explains what to do right away, what French law says, how to get content removed and how to file a complaint.

First steps against online harassment

You do not have to put up with it in silence. Start with these steps:

1. Do not respond to the attacks. A reply often feeds the wave and can be used against you.
2. Keep evidence before blocking anyone: dated screenshots, links to the messages and profiles.
3. Block and restrict the accounts targeting you, then limit comments and private messages.
4. Report each piece of content to the platform with its reporting tool.
5. Talk about it with someone you trust, the 3018 or the 116 006.

If threats make you fear for your safety, call 17 or 112. Deaf or hard-of-hearing people can text 114.

What counts as online harassment?

According to service-public, the French government's official information site, online harassment ("cyberharcèlement") is harassment carried out on the internet: social media, messaging apps, forums, online games. It requires repeated words or behaviour that degrade your living conditions and harm your physical or mental health.

Two points matter:

• Repetition. A single message is not always enough. A series of messages, comments or posts is.
• Pile-ons. When several people target you, each of them commits the offence, even if they posted only once. Article 222-33-2-2 of the Criminal Code has covered these "digital raids" since 2018, whether coordinated or not, as long as each person knows they are adding to a repeated attack.

Online harassment can also be sexual: remarks, propositions or images of a sexual nature imposed repeatedly. That falls under sexual harassment (Article 222-33).

Insults, harassment, threats: what the law says

One situation often involves several offences, and your complaint can cover all of them.

Facts	Legal basis	Maximum penalty
Repeated moral harassment	Art. 222-33-2-2 Criminal Code	1 year and €15,000
Harassment committed online, or against a minor	Art. 222-33-2-2 Criminal Code	2 years and €30,000
Two aggravating circumstances combined	Art. 222-33-2-2 Criminal Code	3 years and €45,000
Repeated malicious messages	Art. 222-16 Criminal Code	1 year and €15,000
Online identity theft	Art. 226-4-1 Criminal Code	1 year and €15,000
Public insult	Press Law of 29 July 1881	€12,000 fine
Public defamation	Press Law of 29 July 1881	€12,000 fine
Racist, sexist, homophobic or disability-based insult	Press Law of 29 July 1881	1 year and €45,000

Criminal Code as consolidated on 20 October 2026; insult and defamation figures from service-public.

The difference between insult and defamation matters. An insult ("injure") is an offensive expression with no specific fact. Defamation ("diffamation") alleges a specific fact that damages someone's honour, such as "he steals from the till".

The court can also suspend the harasser's accounts. Article 131-35-1 of the Criminal Code, introduced by the law of 21 May 2024 and amended in August 2026, provides this additional penalty for online harassment: up to six months, one year for a repeat offender, with a ban on opening new accounts.

Watch the deadline: three months for a public insult

This is the most common trap. An insult or defamation posted on a public account becomes time-barred three months after publication. After that, a complaint cannot succeed. The period is one year for discriminatory insults or defamation.

Harassment follows the general six-year deadline for délits (mid-level offences), running from the last act, according to service-public. If public insults are part of your case, act within three months anyway.

Keeping evidence of online harassment

Without evidence, a complaint struggles. Build a file from the first messages:

• Screenshots showing the message, the account name, the date and the time.
• Exact links (URLs) to posts, comments and profiles.
• A timeline: date, platform, account, content, any witnesses.
• Private messages, kept in the app and never deleted.
• A medical certificate if your health suffers (sleep, anxiety, sick leave). It shows the harm to your health, which lies at the heart of the offence.
• Written statements from people who saw the messages or their effects on you.

For public content that may vanish, a report drawn up by a commissaire de justice (court officer) is stronger evidence than a screenshot.

Getting content removed

You can request removal without waiting for a court decision:

• Report it to the host or social network. Service-public states that you do not need to contact the author first. The report describes the content, gives its URL, your contact details and a statement of good faith.
• Report threats, calls to violence and hateful content on PHAROS (internet-signalement.gouv.fr).
• Ask search engines to delist the content.
• Call the 3018, which can contact platforms to speed up removal.

Stay honest: knowingly reporting lawful content as illegal can lead to one year in prison and a €15,000 fine.

Filing a complaint for online harassment

A report is not a complaint. To hold the harasser to account, file one:

• At any police station or gendarmerie. Officers must record your complaint.
• By letter to the public prosecutor (procureur de la République) at the judicial court where the facts took place or where the harasser lives, ideally by recorded delivery.

Bring your evidence file, printed or on a USB stick. If you do not know who is behind a username, file a complaint against a person unknown ("plainte contre X"): investigators can ask platforms for identifying data.

If the harasser is your former partner, the case may also count as domestic violence, with heavier penalties and protective measures. Read our guide to harassment by an ex and protection orders, and our article on reporting domestic violence.

If your child is harassed online

Minors are the main targets. Listen to your child without blaming their use of social media, and keep the evidence together.

The 3018 answers young people and parents, free and anonymously. Tell the school: school bullying is a specific offence (Article 222-33-2-3), including when it continues online. If the harasser is a minor, their parents may have to pay for the harm, as our article on parental liability for a minor explains.

Free helplines and services

Service	Purpose	Contact
17 or 112	Immediate danger, serious threats	Phone
3018	Online harassment and online violence	7 days a week, 9 am to 11 pm, also 3018.fr
116 006	Victim support, France Victimes network	Every day, free
PHAROS	Reporting illegal content	internet-signalement.gouv.fr
CNIL	Data deletion and delisting	cnil.fr

Hours checked on service-public in October 2026. Services mainly work in French.

When a lawyer helps

You can report and file a complaint on your own. A lawyer makes a real difference when:

• a public insult is close to the three-month deadline;
• the harasser stays anonymous and the complaint stalls;
• the online harassment affects your job or professional reputation;
• you want damages or quick removal of content ordered by a judge.

The lawyer identifies the right offences (insult, defamation, harassment, threats), which decide the deadline and the procedure. They can summon the harasser directly before the criminal court, or file a complaint as a civil party with an investigating judge, then represent you. They cannot guarantee a conviction, but they avoid procedural mistakes that sink a case.

Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can cover the fees. In 2026 it is full for a single person whose reference tax income does not exceed €12,957. A criminal law lawyer can answer you in 20 minutes.

The official page is on service-public: cyberharcèlement (in French).

In the same series

• Someone is blackmailing you with intimate images: our guide to sextortion.
• The harassment comes from your boss or a colleague: our article on sexual harassment at work.