Paris (CNN Business) Several prominent French journalists have been suspended and another could lose his job over their participation in a secret Facebook group that encouraged the online harassment of women.

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. Some aspects also resemble the organized online harassment of female video game developers and their allies during #Gamergate.

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."

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