WaPo’s Taylor Lorenz: Revealing the Identity of ‘Libs of Tik Tok’ Was ‘In the Public Interest’

TRANSCRIPT:

LORENZ: "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 gave 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."