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TikTokers Target Texas Abortion Whistleblower Site

'Shrek porn' has been weaponized
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 3, 2021 8:47 AM CDT
TikTokers Target Texas Abortion Whistleblower Site
Jillian Dworin participates in a protest against the six-week abortion ban at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021.   (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

The most restrictive abortion law in the nation took effect in Texas Wednesday—and opponents have stepped up efforts to troll a site that encourages people to report violations. The site, prolifewhistleblower.com, has a form that allows people to anonymously report alleged violators, who can be sued for $10,000 or more, MySanAntonio reports. TikTok and Reddit users have launched campaigns to flood the site with false reports, and to get creative with a section that allows people to attach images with proof of the violations. "You can attach any file you want to it, so I just sent them a bunch of Shrek porn," one TikTok user said, per Vice.

One activist said he had created a script and an iOS shortcut that could send the snitching site thousands of false reports, though the website has been fighting back by blocking the IP addresses of people who send in too many reports, per CNET. The Texas law allows anybody to sue a person who provides or "aids and abets" an abortion after six weeks, which can include somebody who provides transportation to a clinic. Under the law, those who sue and lose are shielded from paying court costs.

Some Reddit users said they had reported the state of Texas for facilitating abortions by providing highways people seeking abortions can travel on, per the Guardian. The site was created by the Texas Right to Life group. It is hosted by GoDaddy, and opponents noted that it could be violating a company rule that states "non-public or personally identifiable" information cannot be collected without a person's consent. (More Texas stories.)

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