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The Washington Post reporter is defending using her huge, powerful platform to expose the identity of an anonymous Twitter user, and insists it isn’t “doxxing.”
ClashDaily covered just a tidbit of how awful Taylor Lorenz is here:
Crybully WaPo Journo Doxxed Woman Behind Anonymous ‘Libs of Tik Tok’ Account
The entire Taylor Lorenz piece in the Washington Post is a significant story that should not get shoved under the rug.
It exposes that “investigative journalism” has fallen far from what it was intended to be — holding those in power accountable for their actions.
Now, it seems that it’s a tool of the powerful to use against those with whom they disagree.
Over the weekend, Taylor Lorenz appeared on the most inaccurately-named show on cable news, Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources, and said that one of the reasons that she decided to “investigate” the identity of the woman behind Libs of Tik Tok was because she wanted to make sure it wasn’t a “foreign actor.”
Taylor Lorenz says that one of the reasons she revealed @libsoftiktok‘s identity is because “for all we knew, this could have been a foreign actor.” pic.twitter.com/ktRnYDxbly
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 24, 2022
That’s pretty rich. Lorenz’s lazy report relied on tweets posted by an ex-Twitter employee who cyberstalks and tracks what he determines to be “hate speech” through his “hate speech tracker” that is funded by the government of Germany.
Funny how the “foreign actor” thing can be used to expose a private citizen behind a popular Twitter account and suppress legitimate news stories about the abandoned laptop belonging to the son of a presidential candidate that show some really questionable financial ties.
This is what happens when the media works as cheerleaders for one side and acts as activists.
Lorenz’s piece published the full name of the woman behind the anonymous, wildly popular Twitter account, but she insists that it wasn’t “doxxing” because it didn’t provide any private information that wasn’t already publicly available because the German-government-funded “hate speech” dude had already posted it. She also claims that “doxxing” also implies intent for harm.
Here is Lorenz blatantly lying to the Eunuch Potato that the Washington Post didn’t reveal “personal information” about the creator of Libs of Tik Tok. The original article linked to the woman’s name and real estate license that had what is reported to be a non-business address on it, and Lorenz made sure to mention that LoTT is an Orthodox Jew — is that not considered “personal information” now?
Potato: “Your critics say your article linked to a real estate database” with @libsoftiktok‘s personal information.
Taylor Lorenz: “That’s patently false”
Potato: “So what was the link to?”
Lorenz: “I don’t know. I think maybe to an open gov’t database but nothing personal.” pic.twitter.com/Dihu1ozXt5
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 25, 2022
Notice that she starts to answer what the link went to and then stopped herself. She knew.
Lorenz thinks that publishing the full name and linking to the real estate license and former address of a private citizen in one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country is not “doxxing.”
While Lorenz’s old colleagues at The Atlantic are suggesting that the term “doxxing” is fluid, that’s just not the case. Merriam-Webster has a pretty concrete definition for it — “to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge.”
That is precisely what Lorenz did and she admits it to Brian Stelter. In the interview, Lorenz said that she decided to “expose” LoTT because the creator was “targeting” LGBTQ+ people.
“I think it’s rare to see an account gain so much prominence so quickly and be shaping these narratives in such an effective way, especially against trans people,” Lorenz told Stelter. She added, “So I was, I mean, my story was kind of long, but I really wanted to make the case, like, why this account mattered.”
This is so ridiculous.
Libs of Tik Tok is just reposting videos that the individuals that Lorenz claims are being “targeted” posted themselves. What’s the problem with that? These nutbars wanted the attention and now Lorenz is caterwauling that they’re getting it.
Meanwhile, Lorenz continues to be applauded in the left-leaning media because of her “shoe-leather journalism” and it’s all just so ridiculous. A good chunk of the article was quoting Media Matters, the ACLU, and whining that there was “right-wing outrage” over LGBTQ+ Tik Tok videos without identifying the content that caused the outrage.
There was no “shoe-leather journalism” involved in this unless you count Lorenz going to the homes of family members of the woman behind the account.
Tater asks if Lorenz has regrets going to the homes of family members while saying that he finds it strange that people are upset about “normal journalism.”
Potato: “Do you have any regrets about” visiting @libsoftiktok‘s relatives? “I recognize this as a basic reporting tool.”
Taylor Lorenz: “No. I don’t”
Potato: “I think a lot of people are surprised by reporting practices and procedures.” pic.twitter.com/CjpYc5oaAC
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 25, 2022
There is nothing “normal” about this journalism.
Lorenz is a very privileged woman who is using her very powerful platform to expose people that she doesn’t like. When she receives even a hint of backlash for exposing private citizens, she cries that she’s the victim.
Here is the full segment:
The worst part of all of this is that the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” outlet is paying to promote the article.
On Facebook and Instagram, too. Lol pic.twitter.com/u4ZJRVW6MN
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) April 20, 2022
Lorenz says that she thinks people who are influencing the public should be scrutinized.
Okay, then. Let’s do that with a former New York Times writer who is now at the Washington Post.
Taylor Lorenz is a 40-something woman who is facing a defamation lawsuit, has lied about tech entrepreneur Marc Andreesen using a slur, smeared a beloved YouTube star as a “homophobe” for a couple of tweets when he was still a teen, and has taken a creepy, weird interest in the teenage daughters of prominent right-wingers. She exposed the non-political influencer daughters of Pamela Geller after ISIS had issued a fatwa to kill her, and contacted Kellyanne Conway’s teen daughter, Claudia, a couple of years ago to stir up family drama in their household by shoving the teen into the spotlight. Lorenz proudly proclaimed that she could “slide into their DMs” in a way that a male journalist couldn’t. Creeeeepy!
And now Lorenz has doxxed a private Twitter user because she didn’t like her tweets.
It’s disgusting behavior that isn’t journalism — it’s activism.
