WaPo’s Lorenz on ‘Libs of TikTok’ Exposé: ‘For All We Knew, This Could Have Been a Foreign Actor’

During Sunday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” Washington Post tech columnist Taylor Lorenz said one of the reasons she revealed the identity of the so-called “Libs of TikTok” Twitter account poster was because “for all we knew, this could have been a foreign actor.”

Lorenz also said given the “Libs of TikTok” poster’s willingness to conduct interviews with other media outlets, it was “quite important and in the public’s interest” to reveal who she was.

“Well, it wasn’t — I would say it’s equally important describing the power that this account has,” she said. “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. So, I was — I mean, my story was kind of long, but I really wanted to make the case like why this account mattered. And I think it’s incredibly important, you know, as someone that covers the influencer industry to know who is exerting influence in this way. I mean, for all we knew, this could have been a foreign actor, right, or someone — we just didn’t know.”
“And so, I thought, hey, look, this account has massive power, massive influence. This woman is basically on an entire right-wing media tour. She gives interviews to The New York Post, Tucker, all of that, and registered as a media company, registered a trademark. So, yeah, I wanted to — I thought it was quite important and in the public’s interest to find out who was running it.

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