Washington Post Defends Taylor Lorenz in Statement Highlighting News Value of Naming ‘Libs of TikTok’ Creator

Photo by Sara Kenigsberg. Via Washington Post.

The Washington Post’s senior managing editor, Cameron Barr, released a statement on Tuesday defending Post reporter Taylor Lorenz against right-wing accusations she maliciously doxxed a social media influencer.

Lorenz’s latest article, “Meet the woman behind Libs of TikTok, secretly fueling the right’s outrage machine,” sparked a ferocious backlash from the American right.

In the article, Lorenz identifies Chaya Raichik as the person behind the popular Twitter account “Libs of TikTok.” The account, Lorenz notes, “reposts a steady stream of TikTok videos and social media posts, primarily from LGBTQ+ people, often including incendiary framing designed to generate outrage.”

Raichik, who operated the account anonymously, became influential in right-wing circles and the content she pushed was featured regularly in conservative media, including on Fox News.

Raichik even appeared on Fox News’ top-rated show Tucker Carlson Tonight anonymously.

Critics of Lorenz, who herself has become the focus of multiple news cycles, lambasted the journalist for previously grabbing headlines by voicing her frustrations when she is attacked in the media while turning around and opening others to those same attacks.

Right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro noted, “Taylor Lorenz is a terrible journalist and worse human. Targeting a Twitter account that literally just posts Leftists owning themselves because that account damages the Left is pure Lorenz.”

Now, after tracking down the Libs Of Tik Tok’s relatives, Taylor Lorenz will whine that people are being meeeeeeean to her. F*** off, lady.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 19, 2022

Barr pushed back against any criticism of Lorenz, her methods, and the news value of her story. Barr wrote:

Taylor Lorenz is an accomplished and diligent journalist whose reporting methods comport entirely with The Washington Post’s professional standards. Chaya Raichik, in her management of the Libs of TikTok Twitter account and in media interviews, has had significant impact on public discourse and her identity had become public knowledge on social media. We did not publish or link to any details about her personal life.

Statement from @cameronbarr re: reporting from @TaylorLorenz pic.twitter.com/RsGw950t78

— Kristine Coratti Kelly (@kriscoratti) April 19, 2022

NBC News’ Ben Collins also published a lengthy Twitter thread defending Lorenz, noting that the woman Lorenz wrote about has a following “literally larger than the population of Vermont.”

“Say the anti-gay TikTok aggregator drives harassment towards the random gay or trans public teacher who happen to post on TikTok, implying they’re grooming children,” added Collins, trying to drive home the purpose behind the story.

“Say she’s boosted by a series of big money far-right influencers and networks, including Fox News,” he continued, before giving an in-depth account of the impact Raichik had in the public sphere as an influencer.

Read Collins’ full Twitter thread here