Several top French journalists have been suspended over their participation in a secret Facebook group that engineered online harassment of women.
This conspiracy has put the jobs of the journalists in jeopardy as one of them could lose his job.
The existence of the private group was first reported last week by French newspaper Liberation, which said it was founded in 2009.
The group called itself the “LOL League” and was made up mainly of men.
Members of the group have admitted that it was used to harass women.
In one case, a member admitted to setting up a phone call in which a woman was offered a fake job and then sharing the recording publicly.
The scandal has drawn comparisons in the media to the #MeToo movement, which exposed wrongdoing by powerful men in the industry.
Victims have accused the LOL League of orchestrating targeted harassment campaigns that would result in streams of vitriolic messages on social media platforms like Twitter.
One likened the experience to “running away from a sniper.”
It’s not clear whether the private Facebook group remains active or has been closed. Facebook (FB) did not respond Tuesday when asked about the group’s activities.
SOS Racisme, France’s leading anti-racism body, has asked the Paris prosecutor to open a preliminary investigation.
Liberation has opened an internal investigation and suspended two journalists that participated in the group including LOL League founder Vincent Glad, who apologized and said it was initially created “only to have fun.”
