Taylor Lorenz Defends Outing ‘Libs of Tiktok’ Creator: It’s ‘In the Public’s Interest’ to Know Who’s Wielding This ‘Hate Account’
Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz stood by her decision to reveal Chaya Raichik as the social media influencer behind the “Libs of TikTok” Twitter account.
Lorenz spoke to CNN’s Brian Stelter for a Reliable Sources segment on her article, which explored how the account became prominent in conservative circles by generating right-wing outrage content.
“Were you always determined to identify the person?” Stelter asked. “Was that the most important part of the story for you?”
Lorenz defended her decision to identify Raichik by citing the influence of her account, plus Raichik’s entry into the public square with her media engagements.
I really wanted to make the case why this account mattered, and I think it’s incredibly important as someone who covers influence or industry to know who is encouraging influence in this way. For all we knew, this could have been a foreign actor. We just didn’t know. I thought ‘hey, look, this account has massive power, massive influence. This woman is basically on a right wing media source. She gave interviews to The New York Post, Tucker [Carlson], all of that, and registered a media company, registered a trademark. So yeah, I thought it was quite important and in the public’s interest to find out who was running it.
Stelter proceeded to ask Lorenz about the outrage over Lorenz unmasking Raichik, and Lorenz responded “the entire goal of the account is to direct hate to trans and LGBTQ people.” She continued to describe it as “an LGBTQ hate account that’s the whole goal is to get trans and LGBTQ people sort of excluded from public life and drive these very harmful narratives around trans people.”
“She also talked about globalizing her base to run for local school boards and is collecting email lists, which 100 percent will be used for political purposes,” Lorenz continued. “This is a political force, this is an influential media force. The idea this woman is not newsworthy is quite nonsense.”
Lorenz continued to fend off the doxxing accusations surrounding her article, arguing that conservatives are manufacturing the charge because “they don’t want scrutiny.” She also shrugged off the allegation by claiming “we absolutely did not reveal any personal information about this woman at all,” a false statement that the Washington Post has faced blowback over.
From Lorenz:
The thing is the right-wing media will lie. They kind of just spin up these narratives. Their goal is sow doubt and discredit journalism. That is their agenda. I think we need to be prepared for that and recognize those things for what it is. So much of what I do is try and educate people about the mechanics of the online outrage cycles and harassment and sort of educate news organizations on how to cover it and how to understand bad-faith attacks.
Watch above, via CNN.
