Libs of TikTok
Libs of TikTok is a handle for various far-right[a] and anti-LGBT[b] social-media accounts operated by Chaya Raichik (/ˈxɑːjə ˈraɪtʃɪk/ KHAH-yə RY-chik),[10] a former real estate agent.[11][12][13] Raichik uses the accounts to repost content created by left-wing and LGBT people on TikTok, and on other social-media platforms, often with hostile, mocking, or derogatory commentary.[14][15] The accounts promote hate speech and transphobia, and spread false claims, especially relating to medical care of transgender children.[16][14][17][18] The Twitter account, also known by the handle @LibsofTikTok, has nearly 3 million followers as of February 2024[19][20] and has become influential among American conservatives and the political right.[12][15][21] Libs of TikTok's social-media accounts have received several temporary suspensions and a permanent suspension from TikTok.[22][23][24][25]
Formation
Some Libs of TikTok posts have resulted in harassment against teachers, medical providers, children's hospitals, libraries, LGBT venues,[12][26][27][28] and educational facilities, several of which having received bomb threats after being featured on a post.[29][30] Libs of TikTok posts regularly slur LGBT people, as well as those who provide mental-health services to LGBT youth and LGBT sex education to students, as "groomers".[c] Its followers "routinely attack individuals whose content is shared",[22] and several dozen incidents of online or real-life threats and harassment against a range of targets, including 21 bomb threats, have been linked to Libs of TikTok's tweets, especially those where Raichik singles out specific events, locations or people.[33][34][30]
Raichik created the Twitter account in November 2020, and, after adopting a series of different handles, she changed its name to @LibsofTikTok in April 2021. Later that year, the account began receiving media attention, including from conservative commentators and news outlets. Raichik remained anonymous until her identity was revealed in April 2022 by software developer Travis Brown and The Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz.[23] In August 2022, Libs of TikTok received substantial media attention after falsely claiming that gender-affirming hysterectomies were being provided to minors at the Boston Children's Hospital and at the Children's National Hospital. This resulted in harassment campaigns, including bomb threats, against both hospitals.[16] Libs of TikTok's videos have also been promoted by Russian and European disinformation networks, particularly a Kremlin-backed anti-LGBTQ disinformation campaign.[35]
Chaya Raichik
January 2, 1995
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Account suspensions
Twitter has temporarily suspended the Libs of TikTok account five times,[25][124][89][125] including for promoting "violence, threats or harassment against others" based on minority status[31] and for "hateful conduct".[54] At least two of the suspensions stemmed from Raichik misgendering persons in tweets.[16]
On September 25, 2022,[126] Libs of TikTok received a one-week suspension from Twitter and claimed that Twitter did not cite a reason for the suspension. However, The Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said that Libs of TikTok was suspended for "hateful conduct" with "no specific tweets [being] flagged".[124] In response to the suspension, Libs of TikTok hired a law firm that sent a letter threatening legal action against Twitter if they decide to permanently suspend Libs of TikTok.[124] Libs of TikTok also created a legal defense fund and encouraged her supporters to donate to the fund.[124] Libs of TikTok said that the suspension was "the result of a targeted harassment campaign from the Left to deplatform me", adding that "The truth is I haven't engaged in hateful conduct. I've just exposed the Left's depravity by reporting the facts. There's no rule against that, so they have to make up violations I've never committed".[124]
LGBT advocates on Twitter have advocated for Twitter to permanently suspend Libs of TikTok,[126] and several commentators noted that Twitter had not imposed an outright (permanent) ban on the account. According to NPR, "Libs of TikTok appears to have evaded outright bans by coming right up to the edge of the platforms' rules but not breaking them", adding that the account "does not explicitly encourage followers to threaten anyone, and typically uses its target's own words, sometimes stripped of context, to imply wrongdoing."[12] According to Joan Donovan, research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Raichik dodges bans by deleting problematic tweets before the platform takes action, a tactic Donovan said is common for digital actors spreading disinformation.[16]
From roughly August to October 2022, Libs of TikTok was the subject of significant internal conversation at Twitter, with some employees arguing that the account should be permanently banned due to its potential for inciting violence.[16] After Elon Musk acquired Twitter and became its CEO in October 2022, the site's moderation activity was reduced significantly. On December 9, journalist Bari Weiss claimed that Twitter had limited Libs of TikTok's reach via shadow banning, a claim that was rejected by Twitter's former head of product, Kayvon Beykpour, who replied with "You are characterizing any de-amplification as equating to shadow banning which is either a lazy interpretation or deliberately misleading".[127] Conversely, Evan Urquhart of Slate argued that Weiss' own publishing revealed that Libs of TikTok was receiving preferential treatment, with moderators directed not to take any action against the account and to instead elevate issues to higher management. Urquhart further argued that Weiss' portrayal of Libs of TikTok dangerously conflated conservative opinions with stochastic terrorism and extremism.[128]
Other platforms
Libs of TikTok had an account on TikTok itself, but it was suspended for violating TikTok's community guidelines in March 2022.[23][16] The Libs of TikTok Instagram account was suspended for a few hours two months later, in which a Meta spokesperson said was from an automated system responding to "multiple copyright complaints".[24] In September of that year, the Libs of TikTok Facebook account was permanently suspended for violating the platform's community guidelines.[22][129][130] Facebook said it was suspended in error[12] and the account was reinstated after less than a day,[22][131] an action that the LGBT organization GLAAD criticized.[83] Activists campaigned for e-commerce platform Shopify to drop Libs of TikTok's store, claiming that it violated the platform's acceptable use policy which bans hateful content and goods and services that lead to harassment and threats. In a statement, Shopify defended Libs of TikTok, saying that "We host businesses of all stripes and sizes, with various worldviews".[16]
Reception
Response to account content
The account has been described as promoting harassment against and criticizing teachers, medical providers, and children's hospitals.[12][26][27] It has been called a hate-speech account.[143] It has also been described as spreading misinformation and/or disinformation by reposting videos clips of LGBT people, teachers, schools and other institutions out of context and with incendiary framing.[12][17][18][49][53][8] While fans and supporters of Libs of TikTok say the account simply reposts content showcasing "sex and gender ideology" that was already publicly available,[49] "the account's followers are rabidly anti-LGBTQ+ and routinely attack individuals whose content is shared."[22]
Raichik has described Libs of TikTok's reposting of videos as "exposés" of "the crazies". She has also described criticism of her online activity as efforts to "cancel and silence" and has said that she receives death threats.[12]
Other media involvement by Raichik
Television appearance
Raichik made her first-ever in-person televised appearance on the December 27, 2022, episode of Tucker Carlson Today. In the episode, she stated, "The LGBTQ community has become this cult, and it's so captivating, and it pulls people in so strongly... They're just evil. They're bad people. They're just evil people, and they want to groom kids. They're recruiting."[1] Following her appearance, some news outlets have linked her to a person who may have trespassed on federal property during the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[155][156]
Children's book
In 2023, Raichik announced her children's picture book No More Secrets: The Candy Cavern, whose publisher is Brave Books. Promoted as "a modern twist to the familiar Grimm's-style fairy tale", the book is about a lamb named Rose who becomes suspicious when her second-grade teacher focuses more on candy than education. It reflects the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory; Raichik intended the book for helping children and their parents identify "predatory" behavior. Brave Books' storytime event which was to star Raichik and promote the book was canceled due to threats they viewed as dangerous.[157][158]
Political appointments
In January 2024, Raichik was appointed as an adviser to the Oklahoma State Library Committee, despite not being an Oklahoma resident, a librarian, or an educator.[159] The committee is tasked with reviewing material reported to them and advising schools on age appropriate media.[160]
