Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz reportedly had “privileged access” to Twitter prior to Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media site, according to an independent journalist.
Lorenz was described as a “heavy user” of the site’s reporting system by a company engineer, journalist Paul Thacker tweeted on Thursday in a new installment of “The Twitter Files,” going on to note how she decried Elon Musk’s decision to grant a general amnesty to banned accounts in November. Lorenz has been accused of doxxing accounts, notably LibsOfTikTok, which is popular among conservatives, and worked with her sources to pierce the anonymity of some accounts, Thacker reported. (RELATED: ‘A Very Disturbing Event’: Shellenberger Describes ‘Censorship-Industrial Complex’ Created With Taxpayer Funds)
1. Twitter Provided Privileged Access to Banning Queen, Taylor Lorenz #TwitterFiles
Twitter engineer walking me through their reporting system, “Wow! She’s a heavy user.” pic.twitter.com/z7Y7q5OEyi
— Paul D. Thacker (@thackerpd) May 18, 2023
Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, seeking to create a “common digital town square” on the site, according to The Wall Street Journal. After he completed the purchase, he fired top executives at the company, including CEO Parag Agrawal, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety.
Lorenz reportedly secured the ban on the Twitter user @fearthefloof for posting information on Lorenz’s background, Thacker said in a post on the social media site. Lorenz claimed that @fearthefloof was engaged in “ban evasion,” Thacker reported in his Substack newsletter. “Ban evasion” is defined by Twitter as efforts to circumvent permanent suspensions, including the creation of new accounts or allowing a permanently suspended person to operate an account.
“But did @fearthefloof violate Twitter’s rules?” Thacker asked in a Twitter post, “Nope. No ban evasion, abuse, harassment toward Taylor Lorenz, platform manipulation, or the sharing of personal information.”
“The account was generally healthy and mostly conversational or commentary in nature,” a document provided to Thacker said.
4. But did @fearthefloof violate Twitter’s rules?
Nope. No ban evasion, abuse, harassment toward Taylor Lorenz, platform manipulation, or the sharing of personal information.
“The account was generally healthy and mostly conversational or commentary in nature.” pic.twitter.com/WouKah9Vi0
— Paul D. Thacker (@thackerpd) May 18, 2023
Lorenz’s “reporting targets” expressed the belief that The Washington Post reporter appeared to “work in concert” with some of her sources, Thacker tweeted. In one instance, Alejandra Carabello and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, who Thacker described as a “favored source” of The Washington Post journalist, pushed for the removal of the popular LibsOfTikTok account following a report where Lorenz revealed the identity of the founder, Chaya Raichik, according to Thacker.
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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