Thot Audit

Event

Status:

Origin: 4chan,

Year: 2018

Type: Controversy, Crime, Protest, Raid

Added Nov 24, 2018 at 12:23PM EST by rwss.

Updated Jul 27, 2020 at 03:59AM EDT by Y F.

Read Edit History

Overview

Thot Audit, also known as #ThotAudit, is an online campaign urging people to report online sex workers to the IRS so that they would be audited for unreported income. The operation was widely circulated members of 4chan's /pol/ board (also known there as Right Wing Tax Squads or /RWSS/) in late November 2018.

Background

On November 22nd, 2018, Facebook user David Wu posted a poll asking "Is 'sex-work' real work? How would you guys consider it?"

The following day, Facebook user Kuba Zucc'd replied to the poll, saying he used similar polls to discover sex workers to "report them to the IRS and local law enforcement" (shown below).

Kuba Zucc'd I just use these polls to find self admitted self workers and report them to the IRS and local law enforcement 054 7 Like Reply 3d blue text product font

Top entries this week

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Developments

Online Reaction

On November 23rd, 2018, Twitter user @samathasaffert^[1] tweeted that her "premium Snapchat" had been reported to the IRS and that she was being audited (shown below).

sam @samanthasaffert WHO REPORTED MY PREMIUM SNAPCHAT TO THE IRS??? IM BEING FUCKING AUDITED text font product

That day, a screenshot of the tweet was submitted to the /pol/^[2] board on 4chan, where users discussed reporting "twitch thots/premium snapchat sluts" to the IRS for tax evasion (shown below). Within 72 hours, the post gained over 380 replies.

4chan post sharing tweet by premium Snapchat user and reminding readers about Thot Audit

That day, Twitter user @kxttybean^[5] tweeted a warning to her friends "who run premium Snapchats" about the IRS reports (shown below).

i emma grinch e..te @kxttybean psa to any of my friends who run premium snapchats-there's a wave of guys reporting them to the IRS for tax fraud and the like plz be careful, I know sex work is hard enough text font line

On November 24th, 2018, YouTuber The Thinkery uploaded a video titled "The #ThotAudit Has Begun," which discussed the raid (shown below). That day, Redditor kxbuevofdbHuttx submitted a post asking about memes referencing the campaign to /r/OutOfTheLoop, ^[6] to which Redditor Deus_Fucking_Vult replied with a "backstory" describing David Wu's previous online arguments with sex workers.

Meanwhile, David Wu posted screenshots of messages on Facebook,^[3] claiming Belle Delphine contacted him regarding her taxes (shown below). Within 48 hours, the post gained over 1,000 reactions and 400 shares.

texts between David Wu and Belle Delphine about Thot Audit

Also on November 24th, Roosh V tweeted a screenshot from the IRS.gov "Whistleblow – Informant Award" page, pointing out that those who report tax fraud to the IRS can receive up to 30% of the amount collected (shown below).^[7]