(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-wing organization monitoring hate groups, announced on Monday the inclusion of Chaya Raichik, founder of Libs of TikTok, into its contentious “Extremist Files” blacklist.
The contentious “Extremist Files” list encompasses individuals categorized by the organization as “white nationalists,” “anti-LGBTQ zealots,” “racist skinheads” and “neo-Confederates.”
Raichik, renowned for founding the prominent Twitter page, garnered attention in 2021 for reposting content from left-wing and LGBTQ community members on various subjects, including gender identity and sexual education. Raichik intends to highlight what she has described as the lunacy of the left.
🚨BREAKING🚨 The Southern Poverty Law Center has just added @libsoftiktok founder @ChayaRaichik10 to its “extremist files” — essentially a McCarthyite blacklist of domestic extremists pic.twitter.com/juK38IeYHw
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) April 15, 2024
In an email obtained by Headline USA, the SPLC accused Raichik of using her platform to “promote 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.”
Despite its broad assertions against Libs of TikTok, SPLC provided scant evidence to substantiate its claims that Libs of TikTok or Raichik’s posts had incited the purported violent attacks against the aforementioned groups.
“Raichik’s online disinformation campaign has been associated with in-person violence,” asserted the SPLC in the email. “Her false claims about hospitals and about LGBTQ+ people ‘grooming’ children have mobilized white supremacist, anti-LGBTQ+ and other extremist groups to pursue in-person attacks. “
Later in the email, the SPLC referenced a report by the Washington Post, in which Twitter employees purportedly suggested that Raichik’s posts could result in somebody getting killed. However, there is no evidence to indicate that Raichik’s posts represent a genuine threat.
“Along with threats to children’s physical safety — including bomb threats to children’s hospitals — the disinformation campaign led some hospitals and clinics to suspend care or remove vital information from their websites, which jeopardizes the lives of LGBTQ+ people,” added the SPLC.
This wouldn’t be the SPLC’s initial assault on Libs of TikTok and Raichik. In October 2023, an SPLC writer delivered negative remarks in response to a Daily Beast report about Libs of TikTok.
The SPLC labeled me a terrorist for posting publicly available flyers for drag shows and pride events. It turns out one of their attorneys is a domestic terrorist who joined a pro-Hamas insurrection at the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/bXmM4xWaZI
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 24, 2023
The SPLC has garnered criticism for its tendency to recklessly conflate conservative organizations, activists and religious entities with neo-Nazi and hate groups. Notably, within its “Extremist Files,” the SPLC has targeted renowned figures such as journalist Jack Posobiec and former White House official Stephen Miller.
