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TikTok and Reddit users are launching a sustained assault on a website that allows you to "whistleblow" on people seeking or performing abortions in Texas, sending the site large volumes of Shrek memes, fake reports, and Shrek porn instead of tip-offs in the hopes of crashing it.
Following the introduction of the most extreme abortion ban the US has seen, which slipped into law in Texas on September 1, users of various social media platforms began flooding the ProLifeWhistleBlower website site with false reports and supporting evidence to overwhelm it.
"You can attach any file you want to," one TikTok user explained in a widely-circulated video. "I just sent them a bunch of Shrek porn, and you can do it too."
The abortion ban makes it illegal to get an abortion after six weeks, which is before many people know they are pregnant as it is just two weeks after a missed menstrual cycle. It also allows any citizen to launch a civil lawsuit against a person who assists someone seeking an abortion, from medical personnel to friends and family offering lifts to a clinic offering abortion services. Anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life set up the website to encourage people to catch those who flout the law, which does not make exceptions for abortions in the case of rape or incest.
“Any Texan can bring a lawsuit against an abortionist or someone aiding and abetting an abortion after six weeks,” the group wrote on the website. “If these individuals are proved to be violating the law, they have to pay a fine of at least $10,000.”
As well as some good old-fashioned (and wholesome) Shrek porn, people have been sending the website Shrek memes to trawl through, as well as furry porn and the Internet classic: goatse.jpg.
The website has crashed several times after users "discouraged" others from submitting their own fake reports.
One college student and techie created a script in Python and his own iOs shortcut in order to help people send false reports within seconds, with the script picking a random Texas zip code to make the report, after his own IP address was banned from submitting reports.
"Alright hear me out, what if someone very technical, very handsome set up a bot to automatically sent requests to their website," the activist who goes by Sean Black said in a video. "Oh wait it's me, I did that."
Another TikTokker said she submitted 742 fake reports of Texas Governor Greg Abbott getting abortions, pointing out his hypocrisy. Abbott, who signed the bill into law and is so-called "pro-life", has banned proven COVID-19 mitigation efforts like mask and vaccine mandates in the state.
Many have opted for a more personal touch, however, sending their favorite memes, or information about Ted Cruz peeing his pants "because he likes the way it feels trickling down his leg".
