The Taylor Lorenz Twitter File

Yesterday, Paul D. Thacker dropped yet another Twitter Files installment – unnumbered, actually. His subject was Taylor Lorenz, an infamous Washington Post “journalist” and advocate for on-line censorship and information policing. As his thread shows, Taylor Lorenz not only advocated for such censorship – she facilitated it.

Taylor Lorenz – a history

Any regular reader of CNAV should remember the name of Taylor Lorenz. She is, or was, a correspondent for The Washington Post and exhibited the leftist bias typical of that organ. Readers will recall her “doxxing” of the owner of the Libs of TikTok account. (And that Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., offered her shelter in the Governor’s Mansion after that incident.) They might also recall the influencer, having the same name as the Libs of TikTok owner, reporting bullying and harassment. When the Department of Homeland Security shut down the Disinformation Governance Board, she broke that story.

That happened one year to the day before Paul Thacker dropped his thread – May 18, 2022. For reasons Taylor Lorenz herself best knows, she deleted her tweet. The Wayback Machine refused to archive it or process it. That is a special privilege; tweets from most other accounts will archive as usual. Bear this in mind when reading one of Mr. Thacker’s allegations – that a relative of hers owns The Wayback Machine. In fact Elon Musk, hearing of the family relationship, asked:

CNAV’s discovery suggests that the answer is Yes.

Six months later, CNAV noted her criticism of her own paper for reporting adversely on the lockdowns in China and the civil disorder they provoked.

Bear all this in mind as we examine Paul Thacker’s thread about Taylor Lorenz and her connection to Twitter. This turned out to be a highly privileged connection indeed.

Thread and reaction

Herewith the thread, as the odd-numbered tweets:

The revelations of yesterday shocked Elon Musk:

Someone else posted a screencap of the Wikipedia article on her – showing her birthday as “October 21, circa 1984-1987.”

At time of writing, that birthday remains a mystery, according to Wikipedia itself. They cite what they consider a solid source for the month and date. But “year arithmetic” yields three different birth year results from three different sources.

Another user pointed out that any questioning of Taylor Lorenz’ conclusions, sources or methods risked a shadowban.

Three more users mocked her as “dangerous when provoked.”

Still another made a slightly more realistic, but still unflattering, comparison.

This user summed up perfectly her motives and those of her allies:

Analysis

CNAV knew, as far back as April of 2022, that Taylor Lorenz was a collaborator with the Censorship Industrial Complex. (That was before we even learned that name.) Which is to say, we knew that she supported the censorship of anyone who disagreed with the political left. But CNAV did not know, until yesterday, just how dangerous – and well-connected – she really was (and might still be). Remember: Neville the Cat revealed that her uncle owns the Wayback Machine. That could explain why a Taylor Lorenz tweet will not process. If she deletes a tweet, no one can recover it – a privilege very few enjoy. (Unless it is a burden that someone imposes on one who reveals embarrassing facts.) Not long after that, Neville the Cat disappeared – his account remains suspended to this day.

More embarrassing still for Twitter is the special access she enjoyed – access she used to make life miserable for others.

Her attack on Jay Bhattacharya involves more than a vindictive alliance with Walker Bragman. Far more important than that association, are his skepticism about COVID vaccines. Recall that he is a plaintiff in Missouri v. Biden, the great “State actors” case.

All her targets, except for Neville the Cat, seem to have gotten their accounts back. More to the point, many of the narratives and opinions she espouses, are falling out of favor. But Sun Tzu would certainly agree: knowing the enemy is the most important part of planning to fight him. (Or her.)