Global InformationLigue du LOL information
The Ligue du LOL (in French), or Laughing out Loud League, is a private Facebook group created in 2009 by Vincent Glad, a French journalist. The group was initially composed of mainly young journalists, and later added communication professionals, most of them being men and Parisians. Some of its members are accused of coordinated and grouped harassment, mainly of women but also of men. An antisemitic and homophobic dimension was also noted.[1]
The Ligue's main actions took place online on social networks, in particular Twitter. The alleged victims were harassed both online and over the phone,[2] allegedly because of their gender, physical appearance, religion or ethnicity, and sexual orientation, as well as their professional competencies. Members of the group even turned up at their victims' workplaces.[3]
The scandal was reported in the media on February 8, 2019, when Checknews, a fact-checking service of the French newspaper Libération, published an article about the Ligue du LOL.[4][5] A dozen victims were interviewed, and denounced the mobbing behavior of certain members of the Ligue du LOL and their audiences on Twitter.[4] Some of those identified as harassers experienced professional, but not legal, consequences,[6] due to the fact that in many cases the statute of limitations had expired.[7]
- ^ ""Etoiles jaunes et croix gammées. La "ligue du LOL": un harcèlement volontiers antisémite". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 2019-02-15.
- ^ "Secret journalist group targeted women". BBC News. 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (2019-02-15). "French media in crisis as they face their own #MeToo moment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
- ^ a b "Ligue du LOL : des "caïds de Twitter" accusés de harcèlement". LExpress.fr (in French). 2019-02-10. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- ^ "La Ligue du LOL a-t-elle vraiment existé et harcelé des féministes sur les réseaux sociaux ?". Libération.fr. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- ^ ""Ligue du Lol" : démissions, mises à pied... quelles conséquences ?". CNews (in French). Retrieved 2019-02-15.
- ^ "Ligue du LOL : cinq questions pour comprendre l'affaire et ses enjeux". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2019-02-15.