Libs of TikTok was suspended, and quickly unsuspended, from Facebook over the weekend for allegedly violating the platform’s “community standards.”
For the most part, the popular account simply reposts TikTok videos that liberals originally posted themselves.
“The page Libs of TikTok has been disabled for going against our Community Standards,” Facebook said in an email to the owner of the account, Chaya Raichik, on Saturday.
BREAKING: @facebook just suspended Libs of TikTok. They claim we violated community standards. pic.twitter.com/1tt7mrUXDu
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 31, 2023
LoTT has millions of followers across all of the major social media platforms.
“You cannot visit the Page and you won’t be able to add new people to work on the Page,” the email added.
Government-Tech censorship is one of the biggest issues of our time.
Dems are using private companies in Silicon Valley to do through the back door what they cannot do through the front door: silencing opposition. https://t.co/soFukrDAcN
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 31, 2023
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy weighed in on the suspension, writing on X:
Government-Tech censorship is one of the biggest issues of our time. Dems are using private companies in Silicon Valley to do through the back door what they cannot do through the front door: silencing opposition.
The next day, after much backlash, LoTT was restored.
BREAKING: @facebook just caved to the pressure and restored our account! Thank you to everyone who shared, spoke out, and tagged them.
Follow us on Facebook here while we still have an account: https://t.co/TJLlV3A0Q3 https://t.co/vZRFyP1G5o pic.twitter.com/gIVhqIvISH
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 31, 2023
“After reviewing your appeal, your page Libs of Tik Tok has been published,” the company said in an email. “This means it can now be viewed publicly.”
Prior to Twitter being purchased by Elon Musk and changed to “X,” in 2022, LoTT creator Chaya Raichik said that she would sue the company if banned. The account repeatedly faced suspensions before Musk took over.
Raichik also posted a link to a letter sent to Vijaya Gadde, the then-head of Legal, Policy, and Trust at Twitter, warning that she of the potential legal action if censored.
“LOTT exists to hold up a mirror to our society. Our client primarily re-publishes content publicly available on other social media pages and platforms, in which users outline their views in their own words,” the letter said.
“Much of LOTT’s work has focused on airing the perspectives of people in influential positions, particularly educators in public schools. LOTT’s reporting has shown many of these educators expressing contempt for the perspectives of the taxpayers who pay their salaries, benefits, and pension plans. Some observers credit our client’s reporting with helping create legislative reform at the state and local level, and inspiring parents to become more involved in their local school boards.”
In June 2022, a leaked internal Twitter slack chat revealed that employees were debating whether or not they could get away with banning Libs of TikTok without much backlash.
The internal @Twitter slack chat discussing banning @libsoftiktok is unbelievable. They should all be fired. pic.twitter.com/dsGFhXM9gm
— Megan Fox (@MeganFoxWriter) June 14, 2022
The employees cited being able to censor President Donald Trump as a reason why they thought it would be okay.
