In the wake of a July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Chaya Raichik — better known as @LibsOfTikTok on X, aka Twitter — got to work.
Her job description, as she saw it, broke down into three parts:
First, identify people commenting on the attack in ways she deemed inappropriate.
Second, identify those commenters’ employers.
Third, try to get them fired.
She turned up the considerable heat her social media footprint provides, lighting “they should be fired” fires under “ordinary Americans” ranging from teachers to medical assistants to Home Depot cashiers to chefs.
Backlash quickly followed — not just from her “woke” opponents, but from former allies on the right who supported her bitter complaints about “doxxing” and “muh free speech” in 2022 when The Washington Post publicly revealed her own identity.
My opinion: Sauce for the geese is sauce for the ganders, but it’s a pretty distasteful sauce on both.
I’m on record as being relatively unconcerned about most versions of “doxxing.” Perhaps that’s because I grew up in an era when every household annually received a book listing the names, addresses and phone numbers of nearly everyone nearby, and in a small town where gossip composed about 80% of the entertainment sector.
Those who choose to publicly comment on any subject are free to seek personal anonymity and privacy as to their employment and such, but they’re not entitled to it. There is no right to stop others from knowing things (or thinking they know those things) and saying things about you.
On the other hand, going all screeching meanie toward everyone you don’t like — encouraging harassment against them, attacking their ability to remain gainfully employed, etc. — is bad behavior.
It’s bad behavior if you’re a “left-wing social justice warrior.”
It’s bad behavior if you’re a “right-wing culture warrior.”
It’s bad behavior if you’re just an enthusiastic everyday gossip.
It’s the kind of behavior normal, decent people don’t engage in and don’t like to see.
Why does Chaya Raichik engage in it?
Maybe it’s a matter of abnormality and her actions are some kind of garbled cry for help with severe mental problems.
Or maybe it’s a matter of incentives — she just finds non-decency too personally, politically or financially rewarding to pass up.
There’s nothing going on here that government laws or regulations can fix. The only solution is for all of us, as individuals, to build a kinder culture.
Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north-central Florida.
