Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik pledged to redouble her attacks on hospitals providing trans people with health care, she wrote in a rant on her Substack in which she called gender-affirming care “mutilating the body.”
Raichik’s recent efforts against Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s National Hospital in D.C., and others have led to violent threats against health care providers and at least one request for help from law enforcement. Libs of TikTok has fallen silent on Twitter for the first time in weeks as a result of a suspension for violation of the platform’s rules against hateful conduct.
The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz reported on Sunday that Libs of Tik Tok had earned a seven-day suspension. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the suspension in a statement to Media Matters, saying that “we took enforcement action against the account … for violating our hateful conduct policy. The account was placed in read-only mode for seven days.”
Libs of TikTok has reportedly been suspended multiple times on multiple platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Raichik’s last Twitter suspension came for accusing LGBTQ people of “grooming” children, which Twitter confirmed violates its policies against hateful conduct after pressure from Media Matters and others.
The suspension comes after Libs of TikTok targeted Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., leading to online suggestions about bombing the hospital and putting its employees in a woodchipper. The account has targeted multiple other hospitals providing gender-affirming care, resulting in threats to patients and providers and forcing at least one hospital to request support from law enforcement.
Concerns that the account’s actions could spill over into real world confrontations are far from theoretical. Multiple events this summer were disrupted by members of the far-right Proud Boys gang after the events were highlighted by Libs of TikTok.
Before adopting her current focus on health care, Raichik first gained a following by targeting teachers for harassment. Immediately prior to this latest suspension, Libs of TikTok appeared to be returning to that focus, amplifying content from the organization led by self-described Christian fascist Kelly Neidert, who was banned from Twitter for calling for “rounding up” LGBTQ people.
In a screed posted to her Substack after the suspension, Raichik alleged a diabolic plot by medical providers, writing that “a false belief in the mind is not treated by mutilating the body. Any doctor performing these surgeries should have their license revoked. They belong in prison.”
Raichik is not a medical expert. Prior to becoming a full-time Twitter user, she worked as a real estate agent. Less than 1 percent of people receiving gender-affirming surgery report regretting their decision — dramatically lower than the rates of those reporting regret about having knee replacement surgery, getting a tattoo, going to college, or having a baby.
Raichik has made it crystal clear what Twitter can expect if it continues to allow her to use the platform: more violations of its stated policies, more drag events stormed by armed militias, more teachers fired in a national shortage, more health care workers facing violent threats. Twitter has shown that it knows how to end this. The platform should call her bluff and make the suspension permanent.
