TikTokers flood Texas abortion whistleblower site with Shrek memes, fake reports and porn
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 3 years ago • 45 commentsBy: the Guardian
Pro-choice users on TikTok and Reddit have launched a guerrilla effort to thwart Texas's extreme new abortion law, flooding an online tip website that encourages people to report violators of the law with false reports, Shrek memes, and porn.
The law makes it illegal to help women in Texas access abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy. To help enforce it, anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life established the digital tipline where people can send anonymous information about potential violations.
"Any Texan can bring a lawsuit against an abortionist or someone aiding and abetting an abortion after six weeks," the website reads, and those proved to be violating the law can be fined a minimum of $10,000. An online form allows anyone to submit an anonymous "report" of someone illegally obtaining an abortion, including a section where images can be uploaded for proof.
How does someone in Texas get an abortion now and what's next? Read more
But pro-choice users had other ideas, bombarding the site with false reports and fabricated data through a campaign primarily organized on Reddit and TikTok.
Though the site was launched a month ago, the fake reports came flooding in on the eve of the bill's enactment. One TikTok user said they had submitted 742 fake reports of the governor Greg Abbott getting illegal abortions.
In a tongue-in-cheek caption, the user encouraged others to do the same: "It would be a shame if TikTok crashed the ProLifeWhistleBlower website".
Redditors said they had submitted reports blaming the state of Texas for facilitating abortions by having highways that allow people to travel to the procedure.
"Wouldn't it be so awful if we sent in a bunch of fake tips and crashed the site? Like, Greg Abbott's butt stinks," one TikTok creator said.
Please spread far and wide. The website she referred to is at: www . Prolifewhistleblower . Compic.twitter.com/3YLStXiyht
— Piyush Mittal (@piyushmittal) September 2, 2021
Another TikTok user showed how he uploaded Shrek memes claiming they were images proving "my wife aborted our baby 4 weeks into her pregnancy without my consulting me". Meanwhile, other users encouraged people to upload image attachments containing various kinds of porn.
Hope the pro-life losers running the abortion whistleblower form like Shrek p*rn.
h/t @elgus503pic.twitter.com/p666bqmLhR
— www.needabortion.org (@ellepolloloca) August 23, 2021
The coordinated effort echoes a movement in June 2020 to flood a Donald Trump rally with fake sign-ups, resulting in an empty stadium for the actual event.
An activist who goes by the name Sean Black said he programmed a script to submit reports en masse on the website automatically.
It would be a shame if someone sent a ton of fake tips to the Texas pro-life whistleblower website…@SeanDaBlack created an iOS shortcut to do just this. Idea inspired by @0liviajulianna and @HammettVictoria.
iOS shortcut - https://t.co/uOy5I8oYeapic.twitter.com/paAet9maEa
— Gabe Sanchez (@iamgabesanchez) September 2, 2021
Black, who describes himself as a "regular college student from North Carolina", has released a Python script and an iOS shortcut for less tech-savvy to send thousands of reports a day.
He said his data shows nearly 8,000 people have used the Python code and 9,000 have used the iOS shortcut. Others have been inspired by his coding against anti-abortion advocates, saying collaborators across the US are working with him on 10 "active branches" of new features in the tool.
The website appears to be doing its best to take on the influx of false reports and remains online despite other sabotage attempts including attacks by hackers.
Nancy Cardenas Pena, a Texas director for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, said she was blocked by the website from using the form after she tweeted about it. Some web hosts allow people to block visitors to their sites by IP address.
Hey Twitter!An anti-choice org is seeking anonymous tips for people helping others seek abortion care in Texas. Gosh,I wonder if they factored in people abusing the integrity of this system.Hmmm I hope ppl don't abuse this! That would be terrible https://t.co/XR4XZLoobE
— Nancy Cardenas Pena (@ncardenastx) August 20, 2021
"Gosh, I wonder if they factored in people abusing the integrity of this system," she said, jokingly adding: "Hmmm I hope ppl don't abuse this! That would be terrible."
Topics
- Texas
- Abortion
- TikTok
- Activism
- Women
- news
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Today's gqp/alleged conservatives think this helps them - maybe with their rabid faux 'christians' and idiot supporters - but no one else.
You do understand that this is OPPONENTS of the law flooding the report system correct?
I believe Tess does and you tripped over your haste to post.
Don't think so. But you go ahead. I believe someone else may have tripped over their haste to post.
You are correct. I am correct.
Someone is wrong and would never admit that.
Indeed they did!
So this is the headline
"TikTokers Flood Texas Abortion Whistleblower Site With Shrek Memes, Fake Reports And Porn"
And you type this
"Today's gqp/alleged conservatives think this helps them"
And we are to believe that you understood that it is the people against the new law that are doing the jamming of the site? I was born on a Saturday but it wasn't last Saturday.
Might as well save your time typing replies to people unwilling to understand.
I believe that in her first comment Tessy was referring to the new abortion law itself, not the Tik Tok response.
Jim lets move on.
I'm sure she will agree with you. On both counts.
"I believe that in her first comment Tessy was referring to the new abortion law itself, not the Tik Tok response."
You are correct John, as usual. Others will never admit to being wrong. NEVER. I made a similar comment in the other seed about Tex-Asses' new abortion law.
Dr. Samuel Johnson's right about Olson Johnson being right.
Yeah I was probably wrong but some people really need to know their audience when posting vague references. Somehow it may have been clearer had the poster included the words "this law". It's all in interpretation and semantics
See, they still don't admit it.
WTF do you want? My first born? I WAS FUCKING WRONG
Yeah, I was probably WRONG.
It was still my interpretation. See 2.1.5 surely you can understand the confusion.
Everyone discussing this side topic, please stop. Anymore will be flagged.
[Deleted]
People are also flooding GoDaddy, the site's web host, saying that this reporting site breaks it's privacy rules. Note the site collects your IP address when you fill submit a report.
Boy oh boy - some folks just will not admit that they were wrong, repeatedly.
Everyone, please stay on topic.
I wonder if the idiots trying to flood the website really think they will accomplish anything.
Or are they simply acting like petulant children?
You sound concerned. Was $10k/victim your retirement plan or something?
Yeah, I am concerned.
Concerned for an America with idiots thinking crashing a site actually accomplishes something, and the ones bragging about it for them and cheerleading for the other idiots.
Yeah, it does. It prevents people from imposing their personal will on other people. What if there was a hotline where people could report individuals for not getting the COVID vaccine? Would you be on board with that?
If you think temporarily knocking a website offline is accomplishing something in the long term, I can't argue what you think.
I see nothing accomplished.
My personal thoughts on the law wasn't in question as far as I know.
My personal thought is that Gov Abbott is making snitches out of ordinary people, to get done what he couldn't do and that this law is meant to circumvent Roe v Wade. I also feel that it is imposing one group of people's personal beliefs on another. I also feel that this law will end up causing more death and unwanted children. Texas now has 51,417 children in foster care.
You might also want to read this article:
My understanding is that the website is not a part of state government.
I suspect the new abortion law will eventually be struck down by SCOTUS, and rightfully so.
They can have their fun until they pass a law making it illegal to post false tips. A $100 fine per false tip should stop these mighty mental midgets in their tracks.
100 people+5 computers in a library X 100 library= how many tips signed anon?