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Chaya Raichik’s inclusion on hate watchlist comes after her posts have been linked to bomb threats and other threats of violence.
On Friday, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent civil rights organization that monitors hate and extremism, announced the addition of Chaya Raichik, the creator of the contentious Libs of TikTok account, to its list of extremists.
The inclusion shines a spotlight on the escalating concerns over Raichik’s dissemination of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and conspiracy theories, which have been linked to real-world harassment, threats, and violence against LGBTQ+ communities and their allies.
SPLC senior researcher Jeff Tischauser announced the addition on X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing the seriousness of Raichik’s actions.
“SPLC has officially added an extremist file for anti-LGBTQ+ bigot Chaya Raichik. Her disinfo campaigns are associated w/ real-world violence and bomb threats. Her false claims help to mobilize white supremacists,” he said, directing followers to the SPLC website for detailed information.
The inclusion of Raichik on the SPLC’s hate watchlist mirrors a similar situation that unfolded in October involving the Anti-Defamation League. After discovering her account listed in the ADL’s glossary of extremism, Raichik reacted by threatening legal action against the ADL, accusing them of defamation. The group temporarily removed her from the list and said it was reevaluating how content is added to the section.
Raichik’s designation as a hateful extremist comes at a time when she sits on an Oklahoma board that reviews media and library content for public schools. Ryan Walters, the state’s superintendent of public instruction appointed Raichik to the position, claiming that her contributions and point of view would improve the state’s schools.
President of the Human Rights Campaign Kelley Robinson responded to SPLC’s designation.
“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. 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,” Robinson said in a statement. “Ryan Walters is nothing more than a corrupt and unhinged political opportunist who is more concerned with making headlines than doing the hard work to build safe and inclusive schools for the students who depend on him and his department.”
Related: Stochastic Terrorism: Links Between the GOP, Right-Wing Influencers & Neo-Nazi Violence
Libs of TikTok has faced intense scrutiny from security experts who describe Raichik’s influence as a form of stochastic terrorism— a tactic characterized by inciting violence through broad, provocative messaging that statistically predicts violence without direct calls to action.
This pattern of indirect incitement has been documented by NBC News, which linked Raichik’s posts to a series of bomb threats impacting various institutions across North America. Following Raichik’s posts, approximately 33 schools faced bomb threats, underlining the potential connection between her social media activity and subsequent acts of violence and intimidation.
Despite these patterns, Raichik has publicly denied any wrongdoing, instead accusing the media of attempting to associate her with criminal activities falsely. When USA Today wrote a front-page story about Raichik’s links to bomb threats, she celebrated by posting a photo of herself holding the paper and smiling.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a reaction from HRC’s Kelley Robinson.
