'Libs of TikTok' creator, Ryan Walters' appointee Chaya Raichik added to SPLC extremist list

This week the Southern Poverty Law Center added Chaya Raichik, the creator of social media platform "Libs of TikTok," to its file of individual extremists and extremist movements.

The Extremist Files database contains profiles of various groups and individuals, including Fred Phelps, of Westboro Baptist Church, and David Duke, founder of the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. The list also examines the histories and ideologies of the most common types of extremist movements.

Raichik is a former Brooklyn real estate agent who grew up in Los Angeles. She created the @LibsofTikTok handle on Twitter, now X, in April 2021. "Libs of TikTok" has over 2.8 million followers and reposts TikTok videos of users sharing liberal views while adding derisive conservative commentary.

The account has become a creator of, and a force multiplier for, right-wing outrage, particularly on LGBTQ+ issues. On X, it has been amplified by the platform’s owner Elon Musk, and a hive of conservative politicians, media personalities and far-right online influencers, including former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and podcaster Joe Rogan.

Why did the SPLC label Libs of TikTok creator an extremist?

In Raichik's "Extremist Profile" on the SPLC website, the nonprofit legal advocacy organization wrote that Raichik helped revive right-wing propaganda and the use of the term "groomer" as a slur toward LGBTQ+ people.

Grooming refers to behaviors used by abusers to build trust with children or young people to aid in manipulating or exploiting them. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a human rights group, the term has been used by anti-LGBTQ+ groups to falsely imply that members of the LGBTQ+ community are pedophiles and are “grooming” children by discussing issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

SPLC added that Raichik uses her platform in an "anti-LGBTQ+ disinformation campaign that mobilizes right-wing extremist groups in violent attacks against LGBTQ+ people, spaces and events, as well as against doctors, hospitals, librarians, libraries, teachers and schools."

“When extremists use online spaces that target LGBTQ+ people it is dangerous and deserves critique and pushback," R.G. Cravens, senior research analyst at the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, said in a statement. “Activities like those of Raichik can create an environment that normalizes violence against LGBTQ+ people and provides cover to politicians who are taking away LGBTQ+ rights.”

The legal advocacy organization listed several examples of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric by Raichik:

• “These [LGBTQ and allied] activists and groomers, they’re not just in schools, they’re in all institutions and they want to sexualize our children, they want to confuse our children about their identity.” – Chaya Raichik, “The Jason Rantz Show,” March 2, 2023

• “The word groomer isn’t and never was an ‘anti-LGBT slur.’” – Chaya Raichik, @LibsofTikTok Twitter, Nov. 6, 2022

• “Any teacher who comes out to their students should be fired on the spot.” – Chaya Raichik, @LibsofTikTok Twitter, April 3, 2022

On X, Raichik responded to being added to SPLC's "Extremist Files" with humor:

Chaya Raichik faces backlash in Oklahoma: Ryan Walters' Library Media Advisory Committee

Earlier this year, Raichik was named to an Oklahoma library media advisory committee by Oklahoma state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters.

In a media statement, Walters said he put Raichik on the advisory committee because she was on the front lines showing the world exactly what the radical left is all about — lowering standards, porn in schools and pushing "woke indoctrination" on kids.

“Her unique perspective is invaluable as part of my plan to make Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents," Walters said.

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, called Walters "corrupt" and an "unhinged political opportunist" in a statement about SPLC adding Raichik to its "Extremist Files." She added that his "reckless actions" won't be tolerated and "jeopardize the well-being of Oklahoma students.”

“Ryan Walters has appointed someone to a statewide committee that one of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations considers so dangerous, they have added her to the same list as David Duke and the Proud Boys," Robinson said. "Yet instead of hiding his head in shame, Walters continues to align himself with Chaya Raichik’s brand of bigotry and disinformation. This is beyond disqualifying."

In response to Robinson's comments and SPLC's addition of Raichik to its "Extremist Files," Walters sent a statement to The Oklahoman:

"Once again, we've seen the radical left stop at nothing to smear anyone who doesn't fall in line with their repressive worldview," Walters said. "No one does more to shed light on the extreme left vision these people want to force on our schools and our kids than Chaya Raichik, and I'm proud she's working with us in Oklahoma."

Outrage toward Chaya Raichik after Nex Benedict's death, school bomb threats, resignations

After Nex Benedict's death, a student at Owasso High School who died by suicide earlier in February, critics blamed negativity spread by right-wing social media accounts for feeding aggression toward LGBTQ+ individuals.

Many cited that Raichik targeted Owasso High School in 2022, when teacher Tyler Wrynn resigned amid controversy surrounding a post on TikTok where he affirmed LGBTQ+ students.

In 2023, The "Libs of TikTok" account shared a video posted by an elementary school librarian in Tulsa, where she joked about having a "woke agenda," but explained her dedication to educating students in the caption.

The video posted by Libs of TikTok had been edited from the original to include the teacher's name and school at the end, and not show the caption.

After the post was made, the Ellen Ochoa Elementary School in Tulsa received a bomb threat on Aug. 22. The threat appeared to have been made in retaliation for the librarian's TikTok.

Another "Libs of TikTok" post in 2023 identified a Western Heights Public Schools principal as a drag performer and accused various Oklahoma school districts of having “pornographic” books in their libraries.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'Libs of TikTok' creator Chaya Raichik added to extremist database