Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. View more opinion on ScoonTV.
Over the last week, a brewing controversy has taken hold of left-wing and right-wing media. Both sides have pointed fingers at each other over an expose of the popular LibsofTikTok Twitter account. Taylor Lorenz, a technology writer at the Washington Post, wrote a story “exposing” the woman behind the anonymous Twitter account.
In her story, Lorenz makes several accusations of how the account is used and justifies exposing the woman.
The irony is that Lorenz herself has cried on several occasions about being doxed. Also, many of the claims Lorenz made do not hold up.
LibsOfTikTok is based on a basic premise. The owner broadcasts videos from liberals’ TikTok accounts along with a phrase or two of analysis. In that sense, it serves as a watchdog for what’s happening on the left.
People’s main problem seems to be that it succeeds in holding up a mirror to liberal ideology and has enabled parents to take a sobering look at what is being taught in their children’s classrooms. The Washington Post article complains that LibsofTikTok got teachers fired. In addition, the account led to directed targeted harassment to various LGBTQ+ instructors. However, this oversimplifies what’s been happening since the LibsoftikTok account was created.
“Libs of TikTok has become an agenda-setter in right-wing online discourse, and the content it surfaces shows a direct correlation with the recent push in legislation and rhetoric directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community.”
The article is not entirely wrong here. Has LibsofTikTok been influential in bringing to light a discourse that the public may not have had otherwise? Of course. But that is not a crime. If you’ve paid attention to conservative media, you know that the LibsofTikTok account has been crucial in exposing the gender ideology indoctrination going on in public schools.
Many of the videos she posts show teachers and instructors in their own words describing how they teach about gender and sexuality in their classrooms. Concerned parents that come across the content shared by LibsofTikTok then feel empowered to bring their issues to varying school board meetings, sometimes resulting in teachers being investigated or fired.
As far as the hate directed towards the LGBTQ+ community, that is not LibsofTikTok’s responsibility. With anything that is brought to light and outrages people, there will always be trolls that threaten violence. So, if the argument is that it is her responsibility, then Lorenz is responsible for the threats of physical violence once she brought attention to LibsofTikTok’s account.
Noticeably, many people that took issue with the account didn’t show the actual videos of the lunacy that LibsofTikTok exposed. They probably knew it would make them look even worse. The truth of the matter is Liberals do not like that their true thoughts, desires, and feelings are being broadcasted without them being able to play the victim or create an alternative narrative.
This is the appeal of LibsofTikTok and why many sane people are drawn to their platform. It shows liberals, in their own words, describing what their goals are. It is the very reason Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had to pass a bill keeping gender ideology out of schools. It has no place there, and the teachers (no matter how oblivious they act) know it.
Therefore, they panic when what they are doing is broadcasted for all to see. If they didn’t have anything to be ashamed of, they would not cause such a commotion when they get “exposed” in the same way.
This all boils down to Liberals believing that they are above everyone else and that conservatives shouldn’t have an activist spirit. Nothing LibsofTikTok has done is unheard of in any sense. But because the account has been influential in ways that The Post may never find itself, they have deemed the woman behind the account a threat.
So, now we know who the woman is behind the account, what’s next? What did Lorenz hope to gain by “exposing” the account holder? As the woman has stated herself, she is not backing down and not going to stop reposting the literal videos TikTokers post of themselves (which is not a crime by the way). I guess only time will tell.
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