Share a burkini photo on social media? French deputy mayor threatens to sue! [View all]

A French politician has threatened to file a lawsuit against anyone who shares photos or videos of police enforcing a ban on the burkini — the full-body bathing suit, designed for Muslim women, that has suddenly become a symbol of religious and social tensions in France. The statement comes after the widespread circulation of photos showing a Muslim woman removing her clothes in front of four male police officers on a beach in Nice.

Christian Estrosi, president of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and deputy mayor of Nice, said in a statement Wednesday that the photos "provoke defamatory remarks and threats" against police agents. He added that legal complaints have already been filed "to prosecute those who spread the photographs of our municipal police officers and those uttering threats against them on social networks."