France's counter-terrorism authority has launched its first investigation into the threat posed by the toxic misogyny of masculinist, incel culture.
An 18-year-old identified as Timothy G. was charged and placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday for being part of a “terrorist criminal conspiracy” and making threats.
He had two knives in his possession when he was arrested on June 28 in the Saint-Étienne region by the French domestic intelligence service, the DGSI, near the secondary school he attended. He had no police record and was enrolled in preparatory classes prior to attending university.
Timothy G's lawyer, Maria Snitsar, said her client was “a young person in distress” who “has difficulty communicating with young people of his age [and] who is not at ease with himself”.
She also said his detention was likely related to his activity online. “I have the impression that being on social networks played a part in his being placed under investigation.”
Snitsar says understanding her client’s personality would be a key part of the inquiry. Determining the “legal categorisation of the charges” will be possible only once the investigation has progressed further, she added.
Not much precedent
Very little information has been made public since Timothy G.'s first appearance before a custodial judge. However, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office confirmed that an investigation had been opened into the young man, who "claims to be a member of the ‘incel’ movement". Incels feel they have been rejected by women and have adopted aggressively misogynist views in response.
According to a source close to the investigation, this is the first time an individual claiming to belong to this movement has been referred to the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office for related activities. Since the creation of the special anti-terror prosecutor's office in 2019, magistrates have mainly focused on the jihadist threat or potential attacks from far-right groups.
Watch moreFrance arrests teen for plotting attacks on women in landmark 'incel' case
“There isn't much case law on this type of issue,” notes Snitsar.
But in recent years, the “incel” branch of the masculinist movement has stepped up its hateful rhetoric, sometimes leading to acts of violence.
In May 2024, a 26-year-old man was arrested near Bordeaux after a member of the public alerted authorities to his toxic online posts via the interior ministry’s Pharos web portal, a system designed to curb illicit or harmful online content.
He had posted a video praising “incel” Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old perpetrator of a 2014 mass killing in Isla Vista, California, in which seven people died, including Rodger.
Because the terrorist intentions of the young Frenchman from Bordeaux were not established, the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office did not deal with the case.
Dehumanisation of women
Originating in North America in the 1990s, masculinist ideology has taken off, in part thanks to the internet. France’s High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCE) noted in its most recent report in January that "sexist and masculinist discourse has gained in visibility".
Read moreFrench man linked to incel movement detained over suspected plan to attack women
"Women are more feminist and men more masculinist, especially young people," notes the council’s director, Bérangère Couillard. According to a 2024 HCE survey, 52 percent of men between 25 and 34 felt that "men are being picked on".
Among the various branches of masculinism popular on online forums, the "incels" are the most violent. A few hours before going on his killing spree, Rodger posted a long manifesto, justifying his actions by his hatred of women who had rejected him.
“I do not know why you girls aren’t attracted to me,” he wrote “But I will punish you all for it.”
Mélissa Blais, professor of sociology at the Université du Québec in Outaouais (UQO) and a specialist in antifeminist movements, says there is something particularly violent about the movements seen today.
"In ‘incel’ communities, there's something going on that's conducive to mass murder. Women are dehumanised, labelled as ‘femoids’ – seen as creatures to be fought. Dehumanisation is an important part of mass murder," Blais says.
Canada has been one of the epicentres of masculinism since a 1989 massacre at Montreal's École Polytechnique that targeted women.
"There were two charges of terrorism brought in connection with masculinist attacks in Canada in 2023,” says Blais.
One of the two men involved was a minor who had attempted to murder women in a massage parlour in 2020 in a case also inspired by the incel movement. In that case, an Ontario judge explained during the hearing that the suspect's behaviour did, indeed, meet the criteria to be considered terrorism under the Canadian Criminal Code.
An evolving threat that is difficult to track
Many countries are now weighing what incel activity meets the criteria to be legally categorised as terrorism. After a mass shooting in Plymouth in August 2021, UK counter-terrorism police initially felt the attack had not been motivated by "incel" propaganda. They backtracked in light of videos found on the suspect’s computer.
"The question is whether or not the authorities wish to treat the ‘incel’ phenomenon as a terrorist risk," notes the UK's independent terrorism laws auditor, Jonathan Hall.
Hall says the definition of terrorism in the UK is broad enough to prosecute “incel” violence under its statutes.
The incel threat is difficult for the police to track. Although all are young men, they do not function as an established group or have a hierarchy, unlike a structured terrorist organisation. They also come from a wide variety of social backgrounds.
Isolated kids exposed to toxic culture online
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However, a 2021 report by the Paris public prosecutor's office cited by Mediapart noted the ideological proximity between the radical far right and masculinist groups.
In its 2020 report on the terrorist threat, the European police agency Europol categorised “incels” as a subset of “far-right terrorism”.
But Eviane Leidig, a researcher at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, an independent think tank, says this classification does not provide an effective understanding of the threat.
“Movements such as male supremacism and ‘incels’ can and should be considered as a distinct threat category, and not simply as a ‘gateway’ to other ideologies,” she says.
The investigation into Timothy G. could provide the first clues as to how the French justice system will come to grips with the masculinist threat as well as the role of social networks in recruitment.
This article has been translated from the original in French by David Howley.
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