Libs of TikTok / Chaya Raichik

About

Libs of TikTok or LibsofTikTok is a gimmick account on Twitter devoted to going through the platform looking for cringe videos from self-appointed liberals and then reposting them onto Twitter for others to see. The account functions similarly to other themed accounts with similar gimmicks, such as Posting L's and W's, with the content being submitted or found organically and reposted for followers.

Online History

According to SocialBlade,^[1] the Twitter account was first created on November 10th, 2020, shortly after the conclusion of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, which saw Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. Similar to previous elections, there was an uptick in posts from the winning side, such as celebrations, which became an early source of content for Libs of TikTok.

The account^[2] continued posting found content from TikTok and hit a significant spike in new followers from August to November 2021, which coincided with the Let's Go Brandon meme and a general sentiment among some of an increased turning heel of the public against the sitting President. The account continued to grow in notoriety, especially when posting about support for Florida Bill HB 1557, dubbed by the media as the "Don't Say Gay Bill." This led to the account receiving shout-outs by Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, which happened on April 8th, 2022^[3] (shown below).

Tucker Carlson Gives A Shoutout To libsoftiktok</a> <br><br>&quot;We know that in part because of the hard work of a twitter account called <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">libsoftiktok. Which you ought to follow before it's banned if you want to know what may be happening in your child's school." pic.twitter.com/WlVedvkUBi

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) April 9, 2022

Taylor Lorenz Washington Post Article

The LibsofTikTok account maintained its anonymity since beginning in November 2020 as the creator stated they didn't wish to be known publicly for fear of backlash against them or their family. On April 18th, 2022, Washington Post tech reporter Taylor Lorenz began receiving backlash from some on Twitter because of an email that was shared from Lorenz to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw,^[4] purportedly one of the women behind the Libs of TikTok account (though Pushaw later claimed no such ties).^[8] In Pushaw's tweet, the email from Lorenz stated that she had a one-hour notice to comment on an upcoming article from WaPo. This was met with accusations of Lorenz doxxing the account owner by some users on Twitter (shown below).

During the night of April 18th into the following morning, the controversy surrounding the article and leaked email from Pushaw created a discussion on the topic of how big an anonymous social media account can get, one that is involved in news cycles and getting shout-outs on syndicated broadcasting, before it is fair game to dox or scrutinize like a public figure — with proponents of doxxing the account stating that as a policy driving source of media, it should be explored and dug into more, as stated by Jeffrey Sachs, Sturgeon's Law^[5], Chris Person and Lorenz in a Twitter thread hours after the story beat was leaked (shown below).

Amid the discussion of the article and email, several videos or posts of Lorenz's previous interviews and statements on the topic of doxxing were reposted and scrutinized by those against releasing the owner of Libs of TikTok's real name. One such video, originally posted on April 1st, 2022, depicts Lorenz on MSNBC talking about the harassment that women face online and how damaging it can be to have their lives in danger of online threats and targeted harassment. The segment^[6] was uploaded to Twitter by Jon Levine, where it gained over 3.7 million views in 18 days (shown below).

NEW: Taylor Lorenz says she has "severe PTSD" from being a journalist and breaks down in MSNBC interview pic.twitter.com/G9FymoSdH8

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) April 1, 2022

Shortly after, another post of Lorenz's statements from April 3rd, 2022, discussing doxxing and the use of targetted harassment of people online resurfaced, stating in a tweet that was later reuploaded by LibsofTikTok^[7] that doing any of the former is not okay "under any situation," which many purported applied to the situation involving the LibsofTikTok account being revealed (shown below).

Early on April 19th, 2022, the Washington Post^[8] article by Lorenz was published under the title "Meet the woman behind Libs of TikTok, secretly fueling the right’s outrage machine." In the article, Pushaw was not explicitly named as the account's owner, reading, "When asked by The Post about her relationship with the account, Pushaw wrote, 'I follow, like and retweet libsoftiktok. My interactions with that account are public,' and added that she’s a strong supporter of its mission." Additionally, the article stated that Chaya Raichik, a woman who had previously been working as a real estate salesperson in Brooklyn, created the Libs of TikTok account in early November 2020. According to the article, "Though Raichik has claimed to run the account alone, last August Grant Lally, a lawyer and Republican operative, filed a trademark for Libs of TikTok as a 'news reporter service.' Lally said he is 'not at liberty' to comment when reached by The Post."

Over the following hours after the article was published, numerous Twitter users expressed their support or critique for Lorenz and the story. Later on April 19th, Twitter^[9] user MattBinder tweeted in support of Lorenz and the WaPo piece, earning over 1,000 likes in roughly two hours (seen below).

right wingers have no idea what Taylor Lorenz published. they’re just making things up based on the outrage. no home addresses or phone numbers were shared by any reporter. pic.twitter.com/oqiGwYkNu4

— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) April 19, 2022

Detractors also expressed their thoughts on the article and Lorenz amid the controversy, such as American conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro on April 19th,^[10] who received over 14,000 likes and 2,000 retweets in roughly two hours for his tweet (seen below).

Also on the morning of April 19th, 2022, Twitter^[11] user JerryDunleavy noted that the WaPo article originally linked to the real estate license for the person purportedly behind the Libs of TikTok account, including info on their name, real-estate license number and a possible physical address, which was removed in the following hours after the article was published, receiving over 1,500 likes and 450 retweets in two hours (seen below).

Taylor Lorenz Billboard

On April 24th, 2022, Tim Pool tweeted,^[12] "Should I buy a billboard in times Square saying Taylor lorenz doxxed @libsoftiktok I wouldn't care if they just owned it but the gaslighting deserves a proper rebuttal," gaining over 27,000 likes in three days. On April 26th, Pool tweeted^[13] a video of a billboard at Times Square that reads, "HEY WAPO DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARKNESS THAT'S WHY WE'RE SHINING A LIGHT ON YOU TAYLOR LORENZ DOXXED @LIBSOFTIKTOK @TIMCAST" (shown below). The tweet gained over 75,000 likes and 16,000 retweets in a day.

The billboard was reported on by a variety of news sites, including the Post Millenial^[14] and The Blaze.^[15] That day, Lorenz responded on Twitter,^[16] sharing her article again and writing, "Tim Pool and the CEO of the Daily Wire took out a giant billboard in Times Square today in an attempt to discredit my reporting on Libs of TikTok," gaining over 26,000 likes in a day. She received support from some journalists on Twitter,^[17][18] including Kat Tenbarge, who posted a meme using the billboard and Glenn Greenwald (shown below, left and right).

Appointment To Oklahoma Department of Education

On January 23rd, 2023, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced that Raichik would be appointed as a "library adviser role for the state's department of education."https://knowyourmeme.com/news/social-media-facepalms-after-libs-of-tiktok-creator-chaya-raichik-gets-job-in-oklahoma-department-of-education The move was criticized due to Raichik being accused of inspiring a bomb threat on an Oklahoma school with an inflammatory post about the school's librarian, who joked about pushing a "woke" agenda on kids (which she said was "read books and be kind"). Raichik also does not live in Oklahoma or have experience in education.

Various Content Examples

Florida teacher is upset that teachers won’t be able to talk about their sexuality and claims simply saying the word gay can get you fired. pic.twitter.com/2Hf9CY9SDc

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) April 18, 2022

“If your parents don’t accept you for who you are, f*** them. I’m your parents now” – Oklahoma middle school teacher

This teacher was let go last week after complaints of grooming and this tiktok + others containing questionable content were brought to the principal’s attention. pic.twitter.com/eBgAWCW3K7

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) April 11, 2022

Search Interest

External References