[14] The group has been criticized for harassment, for deepening divisions among parents, for making students' education more difficult, and for having close ties to the Republican Party rather than being a genuine grassroots effort.

[5] The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, described Moms for Liberty as a "far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement" that emerged "out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated books bans.

[28] The group's 2023 annual conference in June featured Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

[32][33][34] The organization began by campaigning against COVID-19 related health safety restrictions in schools, challenging mask mandates and associated local policies.

Members of Moms for Liberty broadened their agenda to encompass other school-related items, focusing on the way issues such as racism and religion are addressed in reading materials provided to students.

[36] In June 2021, the chair of the Williamson County Moms for Liberty chapter told Tennessee's Department of Education in a letter that the district's curriculum was in violation of a recently enacted state law banning the teaching of ideas related to critical race theory.

Specific complaints were made about texts featuring Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, Civil Rights Movement protests, and school segregation.

[40] Moms for Liberty was criticized for offering a bounty to members of the public who "caught" teachers introducing texts or lessons in violation of New Hampshire's new law restricting discussions of race in school classrooms.

A couple of days later, the New Hampshire Moms for Liberty chapter offered a monetary reward for doing so, tweeting: "We've got $500 for the person that first successfully catches a public school teacher breaking this law".

[9] In June 2022, Cabot, Arkansas police opened an investigation after a recording surfaced featuring one of the group's leaders fantasizing about shooting school librarians, saying "they would all be plowed down with a freaking gun".

"[35] A fictional account of the American Civil War used with fifth-graders was deemed unsuitable because of its depictions of "out of marriage families between white men and black women".

"[20][47] A young adult book about growing up gay, All Boys Aren't Blue, was pulled from the Vero Beach High School library after the group objected to it as being in violation of a Florida statute against providing access to pornography to children.

[43] In 2023, the Miami-Dade chapter of Moms for Liberty claimed credit for the removal of The Hill We Climb from a school library; the book was an adaptation of the poem of the same name by poet Amanda Gorman.

[52] In early 2022, a Texas mother ended her child's access to counseling sessions with the Rainbow Youth Project after reading posts by Moms for Liberty.

The mother has since said that she believes their efforts were "to indoctrinate me to be a foot soldier for their cause, to hold bake sales and raise money, go to the school boards and stand up and fight against them.

[54] In August 2022, a Florida Moms for Liberty activist advocated for separating LGBTQ students into "specialized" classes "like for example children with autism, Down Syndrome".

[55] Critics have accused Moms for Liberty of deepening divisions among parents and making it more challenging for school officials to educate students.

"[27] The American Historical Association describes the group as going beyond participating in controversies and laying out its own vision on education policies to cross "a boundary in its attempts to silence and harass teachers", rendering it "impossible for historians to teach with professional integrity without risking job loss and other penalties".

"[58] Local groups of parents that have sprung up to oppose Moms for Liberty include Support Our Schools (in Sarasota, Florida)[59] and Neighbors for Education (in Colorado).

[9][62][13] According to an analysis by the website Ballotpedia, which tracks elections, nearly 60 percent of the 198 school board candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty in contested races across 10 states were defeated in 2023.

Descovich and Justice later made a statement where they described themselves as "shaken" by the allegations and voiced support for the investigation, while giving a reminder that Ziegler had left the organization a month after its founding.

[20] Democrats have questioned how Moms for Liberty is being funded, pointing out that its expansion comes as Florida governor Ron DeSantis begins his reelection campaign.

[2] According to a November 2021 analysis by Media Matters for America, Moms for Liberty benefits financially from American right wing funding and ties to Republican political figures.