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justinspoliticalcorner · 10 days

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Alex Bollinger at LGBTQ Nation:

Conservatives shared a video of students staging a walkout protest in Utah this week, with online commentators claiming that the students were protesting “the furries that bite them, bark at them, and pounce on them,” according to Chaya Raichik, who goes by “Libs of TikTok” online. Another conservative said that the students were particularly angry that “when a student retaliates, they are the one who gets suspended.”

But there’s no evidence of any of that happening. The conspiracy theory has its origin, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, with a misinterpretation of a message sent by the administration of Nebo School District. The message was sent after a bullying incident at a district middle school where one group of students said things “that were overheard by others that the administration felt were inappropriate and shouldn’t be said,” according to district spokesperson Seth Sorenson. One of those groups of students wore headbands “that may have ears on them,” but Sorenson said that the students don’t identify as furries. “These are pretty young kids,” he said. “You’ll have students that show up with headbands and giant bows; you’ll have students that show up dressed as their favorite basketball player, or baseball player. That’s just what kids this age do.”

[...] Some parents in the district apparently misinterpreted the message and started a Change.org petition with the title “Students for Humans at School, not animals aka furries,” demanding the school ban furry costumes, even though the message didn’t have anything to do with furries or furry costumes and the district said that students weren’t wearing furry costumes to school. The petition still got 600 signatures, and some parents pulled their children from school. Others encouraged their kids to protest, which led to the walkout.

Local far-right Utah State Board of Education candidate Cari Bartholomew’s husband, Adam Bartholomew – who hosts a conservative radio show – went to the protest and recorded students and parents talking about how other students wore animal and dinosaur masks to school. In the video, even though the students were talking about “masks,” Bartholomew asked questions about furry costumes and “dressing up like a furry.” Bartholomew asked them if their parents knew they had walked out, and they all shouted, “Yes.” “And I heard that they were putting litter boxes in the girls’ bathroom,” one student shouted in the video. The idea that schools are installing litterboxes in restrooms for student-furries has been a part of the rightwing mythos for years. Schools across the U.S. and Canada have had to respond to parents and local residents outraged about the litterboxes, despite there not being any evidence that any school has done this.

[...] Other conservatives added to the narrative, including Raichik, who wrote: “Students walked out of Nebo School District in Utah to protest the school for allowing ‘furries’ to t*rrorize other students. “Students claim that the furries bite them, bark at them, and pounce on them without repercussion. However, if they defend themselves in any way, they get in trouble.” Sorenson said that there is “no evidence” that any students are biting or barking at other students.

[...] Then, other conservatives condemned the school for allowing itself to be overrun by furries. Anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines, who tied for fifth place at a college swim meet with a transgender woman and made it her whole career, applauded the students who walked out.

[...] The urban legend of schools capitulating to furries and letting them defecate in litter boxes is an outgrowth of right-wing antipathy towards transgender students and often gets brought up in that context. The idea is to make respecting a transgender student’s identity appear ridiculous by claiming that it will lead to litterboxes in restrooms for students who identify as cats. The student-furries myth was a theme in the 2022 midterm elections, with several Republican politicians and candidates claiming that schools were allowing kids to use litterboxes. The myth was a favorite among the anti-trans right, who wanted to denigrate the idea that children could know their gender by comparing it to identifying as a non-human animal and defecating in front of others. Republican politicians and right-wing commentators have repeated the urban legend to gin up moral panic around trans and nonbinary kids and also to push efforts to ban students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity. Schools in the U.S. and Canada were forced to send letters to parents explaining that kids aren’t allowed to use litter boxes in school, while others – including a few in Colorado that were specifically accused by the Republican gubernatorial candidate – had to defend themselves in the media to the accusation.

Right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ extremists such as Chaya Raichik continue to spread the debunked nonsensical litter box hoax, this time aimed at the Nebo School District in Utah.

#Litter Box Hoax #Furries #Anti Trans Extremism #Anti LGBTQ+ Extremism #Schools #Utah #Nebo School District #LGBTQ+#Libs of TikTok #Chaya Raichik #Adam Bartholomew #Cari Bartholomew #Riley Gaines #Mike Lee #Megyn Kelly

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iwoll · 2 months

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The Rhetoric of @LibsOfTikTok: Unveiling the Tactics of Online Influence

Just like any other modern 19-year-old, I often find myself doom-scrolling Twitter. It's a bizarre mix of tweets that goes something like this: a cute cat with a funny caption, then a complaint about the current political climate, a tragic story of the murder of yet another transgender individual, then a meme about something I'm sure is very relatable, anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda, then another cute cat, a horribly transphobic headline, and then—of course—another cute cat. However, in this vast sea of tweets and retweets, there's one account that stands out to me: @LibsOfTikTok.

Chaya Raichik, the mastermind behind this account, wields a potent arsenal of tactics to captivate her 2.9 million followers. She employs specific names of people and institutions, a sarcastic—almost hate-mongering—tone, and fear as tools to persuade her audience to attack LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies.

In the social media sphere, where a tweet can reach millions of people in seconds, the power of influence is undeniable. However, in the wise words of Spider-Man, with this great power comes great responsibility, a responsibility that @LibsOfTikTok often seems to disregard. Raichik's tweets are not merely expressions of personal opinions but calculated attempts to stoke fear, anger, and prejudice among her followers.

A prime example is the situation that occurred between Raichik and ItGetsBetter. ItGetsBetter is a non-profit organization that helps uplift LGBTQ+ youth around the world. The “50 States, 50 Grants, 5,000 Voices” initiative gives $10,000 to elected schools, the grantees, to improve the lives local queer students (itgetsbetter.org). This initiative gained wide media coverage after Columbia’s Rock Bridge High School’s GSA (gender and sexuality alliance) received this money for a project titled “Coming Out of the Closet in Style Clothing Closet” which would allow students to change into gender-affirming clothing in school to better express themselves (Muñoz, 2022). When Chaya Raichik found out about this initiative, she took to her Twitter account and posted the following:

“This org [ItGetsBetter] is giving grants to teachers so they can get more LGBTQ+ books and make “gender affirming closets” in schools. The closets usually offer “trans” and “nonbinary” kids clothing, tucking tape, and chest binders to use in school and typically is kept secret from parents. These are the people teaching your kids” [@LibsOfTikTok]

This tweet employs loaded language to create a negative image of the situation. Phrases like "typically kept secret from parents" suggest a nefarious intent, insinuating that schools, teachers, and organizations are hiding something from parents. The use of scare quotes around "trans" and "nonbinary" implies skepticism or disdain for these identities, furthering the negative tone.

Raichik does not only target children and schools, she also targets fully grown adults. Mark Bryan is a 61-year-old grandfather of four and has been happily married to his wife for over 10 years. Bryan works in robotics engineering and coaches a local soccer team along with having an Instagram with over half a million followers. According to Interview Magazine, he “loves cycling, fast cars, and beautiful women” (Katz, 2021). The only main difference between him, and let’s say, your grandfather, is that Mark Bryan wears skirts and heels to work nearly every day. Bryan makes it very clear in all his Instagram posts that he is a cisgender, heterosexual man, and his audience has no reason to doubt him. His posts are in no way lewd, sexual, or suggestive; however, Chaya Raichik seems to disagree.

“This man [Mark Bryan] is being celebrated for flaunting his f*tish [sic] for wearing women’s clothing to work. Would you hire someone like this?” [@LibsOfTikTok]

The tweet uses a rhetorical question to prompt a response from the audience, implying that Bryan's choice of clothing is a fetish. This choice of words aims to cast Bryan's actions in a negative light, appealing to societal prejudices and stereotypes. By suggesting that simply wearing clothes that do not align with traditional gender norms is a fetish, Raichik perpetuates the harmful idea that clothing determines gender and gender determines sex. This stereotype not only affects transgender individuals but also impacts gender non-conforming cisgender people. The tweet is designed to provoke a negative emotional response, painting Bryan's behavior as derogatory and judgmental. It seeks to discredit him without offering any substantial evidence, relying instead on societal biases against those who challenge gender norms.

It is understandable why one might be confused when it comes to gender expansive people, fear comes from a place of ignorance. But that is why the Trans Youth Equality Foundation exists! The Trans Youth Equality Foundation (TYEF) is a non-profit organization that provides essential education, advocacy, and support for transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming youth and their families. Their website hosts a wealth of information on crucial topics such as chest binding, tucking, gender-affirming surgery, queer sexual education, protesting, transitioning to college, and coming out (transyouthequality.org). These resources are invaluable for individuals navigating their gender identities, offering answers to often uncomfortable and uncommon questions. It is vital to recognize that queer children deserve the same level of knowledge, comfort, and support as cisgender/heterosexual children, especially when they feel unable to confide in their parents. However, this message of support seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as Chaya Raichik tweeted a troubling accusation against TYEF.

“BREAKING: LGBTQ youth advocacy organization @TYEFofficial offers to secretly send 13-year-old a chest binder behind her parents’ backs. We posed as a teen girl and they encouraged her to choose another family, get a job to pay for s*x [sic] change surgery, and bashed her Trump supporter parents as “brainwashed.” This is grooming 101. Cut out the parents, isolate the child, and coax the kid into turning against their parents. How many kids has this organization already harmed?!” [@LibsOfTikTok]

Here, Raichik falsely accuses TYEF of encouraging a 13-year-old to get a job to pay for "s*x change surgery." This claim is entirely baseless, as no such discussion of surgery occurred in this so-called interview. Raichik's narrative of "grooming" and "cutting out the parents" is not only unfounded but also dangerous. It demonizes organizations like TYEF that work tirelessly to support LGBTQ+ youth and creates a harmful narrative of victimhood and conspiracy. This misleading rhetoric from Raichik encourages her followers to distrust reputable organizations like TYEF, despite their critical work in providing safe and affirming spaces for young individuals. Following the publication of her tweet, Susan Maasch, the director of TYEF, became the target of doxxes, bomb threats, and death threats. These threats not only put Maasch's safety at risk but also undermined the vital work that TYEF does in supporting vulnerable youth.

Raichik seems to have no issue undermining the hard work of a non-profit organization, but it did not stop after TYEF. The #pridebelongsinpreschools initiative emerged in June of 2021 from a small organization—approximately 200 followers in total—called Resilience Together (also known as Rise to Resilience). This organization shared infographics expressing their belief that pronouns and gender identities should be supported by teachers and administration. Somehow, New York native, Chaya Raichik, discovered this initiative and tweeted:

“SCOOP: This resource called “Pride Belongs in Preschool” was part of a teacher training in Providence Schools in RI. It encourages teachers to discuss gender neutral pronouns, gender norms, and explore gender identity with toddlers. They’re after your kids.” [@LibsOfTikTok]

For context, the Resilience Together infographic states the following:

“Children begin to be able to stereotypical gender groups between 18 and 24 months. Children can often categorize their own gender by age 3. Children may begin to “perform” their gender based on adult expectations, despite their authentic gender identity. Educators and school staff are responsible to support children’s health development. Healthy development is supported by children seeing their identities represented.” [@resiliencetogether]

As mentioned previously, this organization has a small following, so the likelihood of an entire school district adopting this "training" is minuscule. Therefore, not only is Raichik's tweet factually incorrect, but it is also misguided in its reasoning. If this information is indeed backed by science and social psychology, then what is the issue with implementing these practices in a classroom setting?

The final line, “They’re after your kids,” is a prime example of exploiting parental fears. Raichik insinuates that the teacher training program encourages discussing gender identity with toddlers, framing it as a threat to children. By preying on the fears of parents who may not fully understand or be comfortable with these discussions, she aims to incite panic and resistance to progressive educational initiatives.

Finally, and most outrageously, Raichik targeted Boston’s Childrens’ Hospital. Why, you may ask? Because, on their website, there was a picture of a young child under the “gender affirming cares” tab. So Raichik took to Twitter, stating:

“If a hospital has the words “gender affirming care” with a picture of a 3-year-old, that’s a sign to run the other way as fast as possible. Why would a doctor need to “affirm” a 3-year-old’s gender? Boston’s Children’s Hospital chemically castrates and mutilates children.” [@LibsOfTikTok]

Raichik uses extreme language, accusing doctors of "chemically castrating and mutilating children," which aims to evoke horror and disgust. Raichik suggests that if a hospital promotes "gender-affirming care" using an image of a 3-year-old, it is a reason to avoid the hospital entirely. She questions why a doctor would need to affirm a 3-year-old's gender and accuses Boston's Children's Hospital of performing hysterectomies on minors. This inflammatory rhetoric not only misrepresents the hospital's practices but also contributes to a climate of fear and misunderstanding around gender-affirming care.

These baseless accusations led to harassment campaigns, including bomb threats. In February 2024, NBC News reported that at least 33 instances of bomb threats were made against organizations that Raichik had previously targeted in her posts. Alarmingly, in at least 3 instances, these bomb threats resulted in criminal charges against at least 9 individuals (Brochstein, 2024). This demonstrates the dangerous real-world consequences of spreading false information and using social media platforms to target organizations and individuals.

In conclusion, the rhetoric of @LibsOfTikTok is not just about expressing opinions; it's a strategic campaign to manipulate and radicalize followers against the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Raichik's use of targeted tweets, misinformation, character assassination, and fearmongering is a dangerous cocktail that can and do have real-world consequences, as stated previously. It fosters a climate of intolerance, division, and hostility, undermining efforts for inclusivity and acceptance. As responsible consumers of social media, it is crucial to approach such content with critical thinking and awareness of the rhetorical tactics at play. By understanding the strategies used by influencers like @LibsOfTikTok, we can better navigate the online landscape and work towards a more well-rounded, informed, and empathetic society. It is not just about exposing the tactics of online influence; it's about actively resisting and countering the harmful narratives that seek to divide us.

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coffeecacao · 6 months

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Are you people aware that some G rated cartoons have portrayals of heterosexual relationships and cisgender characters they are Coming After Our Children

#libs of tiktok #lgbtq+#anti terf #cartoons

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acespoliticalwaffles · 1 year

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youtube

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krumbsblog · 1 year

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Dman Chris Onel follows libs of tiktok what a huge fucking let down I'm kinda not surprised because he's still friends with that dickhead jontron time to unfallow

#chris oneill #oney #libs of tiktok #racism #sexism #anti lgbtq #youtubers always disappoint #oney plays #dingdong and Julian #lets play #newgrounds

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msclaritea · 5 days

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Not to be confused with Spotify.

Shopify Inc., stylized as shopify is a Canadian multinational e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.

Criticism

In 2017, the #DeleteShopify hashtag campaign called for a boycott of Shopify for allowing Breitbart News to host a shop on its platform. Shopify's CEO, Tobias Lütke, responded to the criticism,[109] saying "refusing to do business with the site would constitute a violation of free speech".

In October 2017, Citron Research founder, short-seller Andrew Left released a report which claimed Shopify was overstating the number of merchants using the e-commerce platform and described it as a "get-rich-quick" scheme in contravention of Federal Trade Commission regulations. The day the report was released, the stock plunged more than 11%. Left wrote another report about Shopify in April 2019, stating he believed Shopify's stock price would come down 50% in the next 12 months. In January 2020, Left announced in his annual letter to investors that Citron Research had exited the short position. The reports did not lead to an investigation into Shopify by the FTC.

In July 2022, Shopify was criticized by left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for hosting the online store of far-right, anti-LGBT influencer Libs of TikTok. In response to Media Matters, a Shopify spokesperson stated that Libs of TikTok was not in violation of the company's Acceptable Use Policy, which "clearly outlines the activities that are not permitted on [the] platform." In November 2022, this criticism was renewed when an article published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) article highlighted Ottawa City Council member Ariel Troster's criticism of the company in light of a recent shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub. Sharing the CBC article, Nandini Jammi of Check My Ads criticized Shopify on Twitter. In response to Jammi, CEO Tobias Lütke tweeted, "Shopify has a published acceptable use policy and a principled process to apply it. Pressure groups on all sides try to influence it sometimes and CBC needs to see through that not amplify bad faith narrative."

Lawsuits

In December 2021, a group of publishers including Pearson Education, Inc., Macmillan Learning, Cengage Learning, Inc., Elsevier Inc., and McGraw Hill sued Shopify claiming that it had failed to remove listings and stores selling pirated copies of their books and learning materials. The lawsuit was settled "amicably" out of court; the details were not disclosed.

A class-action lawsuit for $130 million was filed in May 2023 by employees who had been laid off.

In June 2023 Shopify announced a fight against "patent trolls" who "stealthily orchestrate hundreds of patent litigation cases yearly", and filed a lawsuit.

Data breach

In September 2020, Shopify confirmed a data breach in which customer data from fewer than 200 merchants was stolen. One of those merchants later said over 4,900 of their customers alone had had their information accessed. Shopify claims that the data stolen included names, addresses and order details, but not "complete payment card numbers or other sensitive personal or financial information." Shopify said that there was no evidence that the data had been misused, and identified two "rogue members" of its support team as having been responsible. They were fired, and the matter was forwarded to the FBI.

Tobias "Tobi" Lütke MSC is a German/Canadian entrepreneur who is the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, an e-commerce company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lütke was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1981. He received a Schneider CPC (German brand of the Amstrad Colour Personal Computer distributed by the Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG) from his parents at the age of six. By 11 or 12, he began rewriting the code of the games he played and modifying computer hardware as a hobby. Lütke dropped out of school and entered an apprenticeship program at the Koblenzer Carl-Benz-School to become a computer programmer after tenth grade. He moved from Germany to Canada in 2002.

Reasons for posting the shady history of the Canadian based German run company Shopify and its Child Protege, owner Tobias Lutke will be cleared up soon.

#SHOPIFY #CANADIAN BASED #GERMAN OWNED AND OPERATED #Controversies #Lawsuits #Data Breach #Anti-LGBTQ #Breitbart #Libs if TikTok #CBC #Tobias Lutke #Ottowa #Canada

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