Libs of TikTok vs Taylor Lorenz, Part 2: Taylor and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Article

PART 1

PART 3

This article comes as part of a series on the Libs of TikTok vs Taylor Lorenz kerfuffle that is all over everyone’s social media. In Part 1, I unpacked the first name in this debacle; Part 2 is about the second one.

Like many of you, I imagine, I had never heard of Taylor Lorenz before this week. Then she very publicly, very sinisterly doxxed the individual behind the Libs of TikTok account, and now everyone knows her for being a nasty, hypocritical “journalist” who’s actually kind of sh*t at writing. I SAID WHAT I SAID.

Lorenz wrote a piece for Washington Post called “Meet the woman behind Libs of TikTok, secretly fueling the right’s outrage machine.” This would be totally fine, except for one extremely significant detail: The woman behind Libs of TikTok was, up until the publishing of the article, anonymous.

In her post, Lorenz identifies the account holder by name and spends three paragraphs constructing a leftist character assassination, accusing her of using “QAnon-related language,” “minimizing COVID,” and “casting doubt on the election results.” You know, the three deadly sins according to progressives.

The article also indicates where Chaya lives, her line of work, and her religious affiliation. The original version of the article even linked to her specific employer, though the link was eventually removed.

The original article from Taylor Lorenz included a link to @libsoftiktok's private work details and address

A Full on Dox

An updated version on WaPo removed the link which I will not post here pic.twitter.com/CsCNffwbUU

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) April 19, 2022

No harm done seeing as they removed it, right? HAHAHAHAHA wrong. It is excruciatingly easy to dig up older versions of webpages. WaPo knows that. Taylor Lorenz knows that. They published it anyway.

Maliciously publishing private or identifying information about a particular individual on the internet is something so heinous, we came up with a word for it. That word is doxxing, and it is almost universally understood to be a Bad Thing to Do.

WaPo (and a shocking number of supporters, but I’ll save that for Part 3) denies any wrongdoing, because the information was all out there and Lorenz was just doing her job.

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

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

They also lied about linking to any details about her personal life, but if there wasn’t blatant dishonesty in a post would it really be the Washington Post?

Even if their statement was fully factual, the defense that “the information was out there anyway” is a terrible defense. That’s how doxxing works, you dummies. By finding information that is public, but fairly well hidden. It’s finding the connections, making them, and sharing them, and Lorenz herself admitted that Chaya’s identity required unraveling a “complex online history.” Maybe because SHE DIDN’T WANT TO BE PUBLICLY KNOWN, YOU INSUFFERABLE MILLENNIAL BARBIE LARPER.

Throughout the rest of her piece, Lorenz willfully misrepresents Libs of TikTok’s posts and makes several accusations that are not backed up by sources. Death threats and doxxing of school officials that had nothing to do with Libs of TikTok or Chaya are casually linked to the account and individual. The account is accused of “playing on fears and misunderstandings of who trans people are,” even though 90% of the actual CONTENT posted is from liberals on TikTok, not Libs of TikTok. That’s. . . kind of the point.

Ben Shapiro highlights a handful of the willful inaccuracies in a thread:

She says that LibsOfTikTok posted "video of a woman teaching sex education to children in Kentucky." She does not quote the video. Probably because that video featured a woman talking about "sexy summer camp" for children and toddlers masturbating.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 20, 2022

She accuses Chaya Raichik of using "QAnon-related language." She provides no evidence of such language.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 20, 2022

All this is to say that Lorenz’s piece completely, fully doxxed the person behind Libs of TikTok in what essentially amounts to a wildly dishonest hit piece. And I cannot overstate this: It is really poorly written. Like I’d be impressed if a 14 year old wrote it but she’s a supposed professional and this is the best she can do? Jaysus.

As if the article itself weren’t bad enough, the context surrounding it makes it even worse. Since the article’s publication, numerous individuals have shared the efforts Lorenz undertook to squeeze the narrative she wanted out of them, including members of Chaya’s family:

Hi @TaylorLorenz! Which of my relatives did you enjoy harassing the most at their homes yesterday? pic.twitter.com/QehkBSgcmG

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 19, 2022

Christina Pushaw, Press Secretary for Governor Ron DeSantis:

Why Taylor Lorenz gave me a “deadline” of an hour to respond, at 8pm last night: She WANTED to write in Washington Post that “@GovRonDeSantis Press Secretary declined to comment on her relationship with @libsoftiktok.” As if it’s shameful to follow / like / RT the account. NOPE. pic.twitter.com/pVL2ahRdSK

— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) April 19, 2022

And, apparently, random ass Twitter accounts that seem vaguely connected to her smear campaign brave journalism:

Taylor Lorenz harassed an account yesterday with a similar name. In a desperate attempt to fish for information, she threatened the account that they will be implicated as “starting a hate campaign against LGBTQ people” if they don’t respond to her pic.twitter.com/1oLZe5zyk5

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 19, 2022

“In line” with your “professional standards,” eh, WaPo?

Honestly, it’s hard to imagine a way Lorenz’s conduct could possibly be put in a worse light. She’s a sea hag, sea haggin’ as only sea hags do. The only thing that could make her a sh*ttier person is if she was the kind of person to cry on television about internet people saying mean things about her.

Oh, wait.

This was Taylor Lorenz a few weeks ago. Never forget pic.twitter.com/jFpusBTmfy

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 19, 2022

(Who can send us the best ugly-crying screenshot?)

Yup. Lorenz has spent an inordinate amount of energy crying about how bad it is to be mean on the internet, yet went ahead and wrote a piece that does literally everything she claims to find abhorrent.

Yet, somehow, she is not the worst part of this story. WaPo’s response was simply foreshadowing– Lorenz’s piece was met with all the self-righteous seal clapping you would expect, and more of the double standards of the left than I have the mental fortitude to even think about for more than a few minutes.

I’m going to pour myself some gin, gird my loins, and get you Part 3.