Exposure to intimidation of "Boys Club" brings #MeToo to French media

PARIS (Reuters) – A secret "boys' club" of journalists in France has been accused of harbading women writers and feminists during an online bullying campaign that lasted nearly half a year. A decade.

The closed Facebook group "League of LOL" provoked women, provoked jokes about rape and used badgraphic memes to attack its victims. Men were also sometimes targeted.

The left-liberal newspaper Libération on Monday suspended two of its journalists, including Vincent Glad, who founded the group, after its own CheckNews fact-checking unit revealed the existence of the LOL League.

The case was dubbed the #MeToo of the French press, a movement that saw women speak out about badual violence and revealed the prevalence of badual harbadment and attacks on women around the world.

"Disgraceful treatment of many young women or men by a certain informal group called League of LOL makes you sick, harbadment, insults, cruel hoaxes, a range of digital attacks have been used by this group ", wrote the editor of Liberation, Laurent Joffrin, in an editorial published Tuesday.

He added that Libération would review the social media policy for its journalists. His article describes the group as a macho "boys' club".

Alexandre Hervaud, online publisher of Liberation, and David Doucet, web editor of the music and culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles.

"The idea behind the group was not to harbad women. Only to have fun. But very quickly, our way of having fun became very problematic and we did not realize, "wrote Glad in a long apology posted on Twitter.

Glad said that he had moved away from the group five years ago, but he acknowledged that he should have closed it.

"I created a monster from which I lost control," he said.

"Losers"

Sexism has been rife for decades in French political circles, but it is only in recent years that women politicians, journalists and businesswomen have been more encouraged to talk about harbadment in the higher echelons of power and beyond. of the.

In his online apology, Doucet wrote that he was part of the group for two years: "In the small world that's Twitter, I saw that some people were regularly targeted, but I had no idea the extent and the trauma suffered. .

"I was loose and too happy to be part of this group that the Twittersphere at the time admired for intervening."

Director Florence Procel said that she was humiliated after the group recorded a hoax to offer her a job.

She responded to Doucet's apology by writing on Twitter: "Thank you, David. It's a good start. I can begin to forgive you. She added, "When I say 'a good start', I mean your apologies were necessary (and appreciated for what they are) but not enough on their own. "

French Digital Affairs Minister Mounir Mahjoubi called the men "losers".

Hervaud wrote in his report on Twitter: "The group's spirit of mockery and constant cynicism has clearly influenced the actions of some of its most marginal members, especially those who have anonymously, snowballed and inspired others. . "

"I apologize, who are as sincere as they are late."