France to tighten online abuse laws

France said on Thursday it is toughening its internet abuse laws after an outcry over young media executives who ran a macho “boys’ club” that bullied female colleagues online.

Two government ministers said new rules will be tabled before the end of June to force YouTube and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to pull hateful posts.

Eight journalists and public relations executives who belonged to the “League of LOL” Facebook group have either been suspended or stepped down this week since they were accused of targeting feminists and minority colleagues online.

The affair is being dubbed the “French media’s #MeToo”, with the closed group branded a “boys’ club” which harassed women online with pornographic memes and off-colour jokes about rape culture.

France’s digital affairs minister, Mounir Mahjoubi, who described those behind the League of LOL as “losers”, said the government is considering changes to the legal status of social networks to make them face up to their responsibilities.

Facebook and Twitter’s existing status as sharing platforms, he said, “significantly limits their responsibility” for online abuse and harassment.

Mahjoubi said that they could be reclassified somewhere between platforms and publishers, which would expose them to heavier fines and regulation, as already happens in neighbouring Germany.