The Évry public prosecutor’s office has launched proceedings against a 16-year-old high school student in Massy for glorifying terrorism. On November 13, the 10th anniversary of the Bataclan attack, the minor, who was born in Egypt, shared a video game in a WhatsApp group of students in which a plane crashes in an environment reminiscent of New York, accompanied by the cry ‘Allah akbar’. He was brought before the juvenile court judge.
The Évry public prosecutor’s office was called in after a report from the Fustel-de-Coulanges secondary school in Massy (Essonne) about the distribution of a video game considered problematic in a WhatsApp group of students. A 16-year-old student of Egyptian origin was arrested and then brought before the court on charges of glorifying terrorism.
On November 13, 2025, the 10th anniversary of the Bataclan attacks, the teenager shared a link to an online game in a high school messaging group. The game’s objective: click on an airplane flying over New York to hit two towers. When the plane ‘crashes,’ it explodes and a male voice shouts ‘Allah akbar.’ In the message accompanying the link, the young man claims that he himself was the creator of the game.
Alerted, the school administration sent a report to the Évry court. However, initial investigations revealed that the game had already been circulating on the internet for one to two years.
The 16-year-old student, born in Kalyobia, Egypt, was arrested and detained on November 20. During his hearing, he stated that he had only been in France for three years, knew nothing about the attacks of November 13, 2015, and did not know what the game could stand for. He claims to have simply clicked on a link he received from another student the day before, before sharing it in turn.
Analysis of his mobile phone confirmed that he had indeed received the link previously and that he was apparently not the creator. A search was conducted at his home, which did not provide investigators with any evidence. Despite these explanations, the public prosecutor’s office decided to continue with the proceedings. The minor was brought before the juvenile court judge on November 21, 2025, for acts described as ‘glorification of terrorism.’