TROLL OF THE MONTH: Media coverage of Imane Khelif

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region.

The Paris Olympic Games, albeit a moment to celebrate diversity, sportsmanship, and healthy competition, have also been marred by troubling instances of transphobia, racism, and discrimination. One of these instances that made headlines in the media across the Western Balkans was the case involving Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and her match against Angela Carini of Italy.

Khelif made headlines when Carini abandoned their match on August 1, which resulted in Khelif advancing in the competition. Carini, who withdrew from the match after 46 seconds, claimed to be in intense pain after being punched in the nose. She furthermore claimed that the fight was “unfair”, alluding to the 2023 World Boxing Championship where Khelif was disqualified by the governing body after failing a test which determined she does not meet the criteria to compete in the women’s category. This started a campaign against Khelif resulting in disinformation, bullying, racism and transphobia being spread across social media platforms.

Some of the most prominent names amongst those taking part included X CEO Elon Musk and the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling who posted insulting and hateful comments about the boxer. Rowling went as far as to claim that Khelif was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head”. The smear campaign was reinforced by disinformation used to spread hate not only towards Khelif, but also transphobic, racist and sexist narratives.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to allow Khelif to participate in the Games sparked significant debate on social media and among sports fans. It accompanied media coverage accusing Khelif of being a biological male and therefore, not qualified to play in a women’s boxing match.

In Montenegro, the public broadcaster, Radio-Television of Montenegro, titled an article about the boxer by calling her a ‘biological male,’ even though she identifies as a woman and was born female.

Similarly, the boxing match sparked debate in Albanian media. Headlines focused on the match as a power struggle between genders alongside a surge of hate speech aimed towards the LGBTIQ+ community and women. Many media outlets reported that the Algerian boxer was transgender, without providing accurate information. Headlines such as “The Olympics allowed a biological man, Imane Khelif, to compete as a woman in Paris” and “Beating a woman is now an Olympic sport. They even give you medals” reflected this trend. 

Likewise, in North Macedonia, Imane Khelief was presented as “an apparent male fighting in women’s category”. The media accused her of being transgender, resulting in hate speech in the comments. Furthermore, many church representatives spread the same rhetoric on their Facebook profiles by sharing the same article and commenting.

In North Macedonia, the anti-gender movement has been actively spreading disinformation and attempting to incite hate speech and anti-LGBTIQ+ sentiment among the population for a long time. They seize any event that could amplify these sentiments. The Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Coalition for the Protection of Children often reinforce these narratives.

Likewise, the Serbian media space followed similar patterns in the reporting of the match.  Transphobic, sexist and racist narratives quickly spread both in traditional and social media.

Most media used disinformation and unverified information to publish sensational headlines calling Khelif a “proven biological male” and presenting Carini as a victim as opposed to a sportswoman that simply lost a match.

Some portals later modified their headlines, choosing to describe Khelif as a woman with “male hormones” or “male chromosomes,” avoiding an explicit claim that she was a man. However, these minor changes remained rooted in disinformation, bias, and a misunderstanding of human biology. While this somewhat shifted the discourse— as she continued to be addressed as a woman in reports of her subsequent wins leading to the semifinals — most media outlets did not acknowledge these corrections, admit to spreading misinformation, or issue an apology. This failure highlighted their lack of accountability to readers and disregard for professional standards.

Some media, and especially users on social media platforms, used visual imagery to enhance misogynist and racist narratives by intentionally sharing pictures where Khelif appears to have more “masculine” features and doesn’t fit into the unrealistic standard of what a woman “should” look like. This standard is based in patriarchal and Eurocentric views of womanhood. Carini, however, was pictured as smaller, more feminine looking, wearing makeup, putting her closer to this standard. This culminated in a racist image shared online, painting Khelif as a monster and Carini as a small, thin and dainty woman. This image was even shared by one of Khelif’s opponents at the Olympics, Hungarian boxer Luca Anna Hamori, before their match.

Despite the wave of misinformation and transphobia spread online, Khelif did not let it deter her from competing in the Olympics and ultimately winning gold. Alongside this, Khelif filed a criminal complaint to the French authorities over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment“. The lawsuit included names such as Elon Musk and J. K. Rowling.  

The truth of the matter is that Imane Kelif identifies as a woman; she was born a woman, and is recognised by the IOC as a woman. Disinformation and transphobia have no place in our societies. Online bullying and harassment are deeply harmful, and the media should not use such instances to perpetuate harmful content. Instead, they should leverage their influence and platforms to call out transphobia and respond in a professional and ethical manner.