Second graders are learning about furries in school?
That’s what the prominent right-wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok (@LibsofTikTok) said in a tweet on Monday. However, it turns out that Libs of TikTok fell for a troll. The accusations she tweeted were faked.
However, since-deleted tweets from the Libs of TikTok account show that it had previously doxxed individuals, sharing a physical address, place of work, phone number, and email connected to the targeted person. Libs of TikTok also encouraged her followers to call the listed phone number. Those deleted tweets include a post accusing the LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline, The Trevor Project, of being a “grooming organization” for providing these services.
This isn’t the first time Raichik has posted fake stories. The account previously spread a conspiracy theory about schools leaving out litter boxes for students that were choosing to “identify as cats.”
The Libs of TikTok account was previously run anonymously. That is, until last week, when Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz uncovered that Chaya Raichik was behind the account. In the fallout of the report, it was also discovered that Raichik is now being funded by the right-wing media outlet, The Babylon Bee, to run the Libs of TikTok account.
Conservative supporters of Raichik criticized the basic journalistic tactics deployed by Lorenz, such as confirming she had the correct information by knocking on doors connected to Raichik. If Raichik and the Libs of TikTok account engaged in similar due diligence, perhaps it would have avoided falling for a troll and publishing a post that resulted in harassing messages sent to the faculty of an entire school district.