Journalism Pakistan
Journalism Pakistan
Freedom of expression shrinks in Pakistan as PECA Amendments take toll: report اظہارِ رائے کی آزادی محدود، پیکا میں ترامیم سے میڈیا کو شدید دھچکا: رپورٹDawn urges Indian media to abandon war rhetoric ڈان کی بھارتی میڈیا سے جنگی بیانیہ ترک کرنے کی اپیلIndia bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels following Pahalgan attack پہلگام حملے کے بعد بھارت نے پاکستان کے 16 یوٹیوب چینلز پر پابندی لگا دی'In A Different Realm' offers a philosophical take on cricket's greatest innings ان اے ڈیفرنٹ ریلم کرکٹ کی عظیم ترین اننگز پر ایک فکری نقطۂ نظر پیش کرتی ہےCoordinated or coincidence? Identical tweets by Pakistani journalists raise eyebrows ہم آہنگی یا محض اتفاق؟ پاکستانی صحافیوں کے ایک جیسے ٹویٹس نے سوالات اٹھا دیےThe PSL paradox: pageantry or progress? پی ایس ایل کا تضاد: دکھاوا یا ترقی؟Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists after PTI expulsion پی ٹی آئی سے نکالے جانے کے بعد شیر افضل مروت کے صحافیوں پر ذاتی حملےJournalist Sanaullah Khan alleges FIA blocking accounts of YouTubers and families صحافی ثناء اللہ خان کا انکشاف: ایف آئی اے یوٹیوبرز اور ان کے خاندانوں کے اکاؤنٹس بلاک کر رہی ہےA launch in style: Dr. Nauman Niaz unveils 'In A Different Realm' ان اے ڈفرنٹ ریلم کی رونمائی: ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز کی کتاب Sindhi journalist AD Shar brutally murdered, PFUJ declares three-day mourning سندھی صحافی اے ڈی شر کا بہیمانہ قتل، پی ایف یو جے نے تین روزہ سوگ کا اعلان کر دیاAJK government registers case against newspaper and staff آزاد کشمیر حکومت کا اخبار اور عملے کے خلاف مقدمہJournalist Arzoo Kazmi alleges FIA threats, possible arrest over reporting صحافی آرزو کاظمی کا دعویٰ: ایف آئی اے کی دھمکیاں، رپورٹنگ پر ممکنہ گرفتاری

France to tighten online bullying laws after 'boys' club' scandal

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published February 15, 2019

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France to tighten online bullying laws after 'boys' club' scandal

PARIS - 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 would be tabled before the end of June to force YouTube and social media platforms like 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-color jokes about rape culture.

France’s Digital Affairs Minister Mounir Mahjoubi, who described those behind the League of LOL as “losers,” said the government was also considering changing the legal status of social networks to make them face up to their responsibilities.

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

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

And he was particularly critical of Twitter.

“If we want to fight against harassment, platforms have to step up and invest, and today Twitter is not up to scratch,” he told France Inter radio.

Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa, who is working with Mahjoubi on the new rules, said earlier she was considering extending the six-year cut-off for prosecuting alleged crimes.

Under the law, as it stands, only online bullies who put up abusive posts after 2013 can be prosecuted under the statute of limitations.

Mahjoubi said Thursday that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube had “particular responsibility” to act on online bullying and hate, and the new “legal and non-legal steps being considered to regulate the chain of hate” would oblige them to take down such content.

He said the reforms would be part of a package of online measures already being examined under a review ordered by President Emmanuel Macron.

The government wanted to protect online anonymity, but “it depends” on how it is used, he added.

“There are certain areas where we cannot go on having it, as in online petitions where there should be no anonymity,” Mahjoubi insisted.

The League of LOL scandal, which first surfaced at the weekend, continues to rock the French media, with many of its predominantly-male members apologizing for their behavior or for not speaking out.

Victims of the group recounted how the attacks and pranks had pushed one woman to quit journalism and left another suicidal.

In a separate episode, three journalists from the French edition of the Huffington Post news site were sacked on Monday for making “unacceptable remarks in a work context.”

Le Monde newspaper — which has a stake in the site — said the three were fired over their posts on another closed Facebook page. - AFP

 

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