The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has included Chaya Raichik, who spreads hate against LGBTQ+ people, in its public list of extremist individuals, organizations, and ideologies.
The SPLC's description of Raichik recognizes her as the founder of Libs of TikTok and credits her with promoting the false idea that LGBTQ+ individuals are pedophiles. She is also accused of spreading the conspiracy theory that LGBTQ+ people are trying to sexualize children and have infiltrated various social institutions.
The SPLC's listing continues by stating that Raichik uses her social media platform to promote an anti-LGBTQ+ disinformation campaign that encourages violent attacks against LGBTQ+ people, as well as against medical professionals, hospitals, libraries, educators, and schools.
The SPLC traces Raichik’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda back to 2021 when she shifted from spreading COVID-19 and election conspiracy theories on Twitter to capitalizing on the false “groomer'' narrative that was gaining traction.
Libs of TikTok now has over three million followers, and Raichik's anti-LGBTQ+ posts have been linked to real threats directed at schools, libraries, hospitals, and individuals she has targeted. real threats directed at the schools, libraries, hospitals, and individuals she has targeted. Media Matters has tracked harassment and threats of violence aimed at at least 42 institutions, events, and individuals after Raichik posted about them. Her posts have also led to the resignation of multiple educators who have faced harassment due to her online attacks.
SPLC's profile of Raichik highlights six instances where children's hospitals and specific doctors faced harassment and threats of violence following her misleading posts about the gender-affirming care they provide.
Despite claiming to be motivated by a desire to protect children, Raichik has targeted children’s hospitals and other spaces that serve children, leading to campaigns of abuse and intimidation that put them at risk of bomb threats, gun violence, and exposure to vicious anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
The SPLC also mentions a 2022 Washington Post report article in which Twitter employees expressed concern that someone would get killed as a result of Libs of TikTok’s posts.
In an October 31, 2023, edition of his newsletter, Michael Edison Hayden, an investigative journalist with the SPLC, described Libs of TikTok as a “time bomb.” He also expressed concern that Raichik's fear-mongering could lead to violence, as she targets LGBTQIA people and their allies.
While there is no evidence that Raichik herself has made a bomb threat, Hayden stated, “What she has done though is fear monger to an audience of bigots who have a history of tormenting LGBTQIA people and their allies.”
He continued by expressing genuine concern that Raichik's actions could prompt someone to target the places she identifies with horrific violence.
“I don’t find Raichik very remarkable. It seems like she isn't intelligent or talented in the arts. She's just a social media opportunist who capitalized on a wave of anti-trans hate at the right moment.”
