At the beginning of this month, Senate Bill 8—also known as the Heartbeat Act—went into effect in Texas, banning abortions after six weeks and exposing anyone who receives or even abets an abortion to criminal charges. What's more, the law incentivizes Texans to report neighbors who may have violated the law with a bounty of up to $10 thousand.
Because six weeks is long before the stage of fetal viability, the law is blatantly unconstitutional under the precedent set forth by Roe v. Wade. Nevertheless, the conservative Supreme Court voted not to halt the law's enforcement, leaving it in place.
A right-wing organization called Texas Right to Life has published an anonymous form that allows Texans to report people whom they suspect violated the law.
The site has been spammed with the law's critics sending in fake reports, but the organization has only doubled down.
This is not at all dystopianpic.twitter.com/yGY3yyBxJK— Mark Joseph Stern (@Mark Joseph Stern) 1630603690
In the video, a spokesperson for the organization says:
"Those who worship at the altar of child sacrifice tried to shut down prolifewhistleblower.com, but the site is still functioning and active and awaiting your reports and findings."
Now, one clever TikToker—Sean Black—has shared an iOS shortcut with his followers that allows people to automatically spam the sites with false reports in the hopes of inundating their system and making genuine reports harder to spot.
Watch below.
@black_madness21 Reply to @black_madness21 #texas #abortion #gregabbott
♬ original sound - Sean Black
The shortcut sends an automated report to the website every 10-15 seconds. Black said his test sent about 300 reports before the site banned his IP address.
On what motivated him to take this action, Black told Joseph Cox of VICE:
"To me the McCarthyism era tactics of turning neighbors against each other over a bill I feel is a violation of Roe V Wade is unacceptable. There are people on TikTok using their platform to educate and do their part. I believe this is me doing mine."
People were heartened to see the civil disobedience.
Me, at the state of the world: \nMe, reading this article: https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Lizard Gillizard (@Lizard Gillizard) 1630610681
we love to see people using code for good https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— rahcxl (@rahcxl) 1630601027
I might finally join TikTok just to follow this king. https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Erin Gallagher (@Erin Gallagher) 1630622943
I hope this person has a lovely day.https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Hugh Tran, Astrologer (@Hugh Tran, Astrologer) 1630685740
Not all heroes wear capes.https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Pro Se Tweeter User (@Pro Se Tweeter User) 1630609965
This is genius.https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Jesse Damiani (@Jesse Damiani) 1630607698
Black's video led some to praise the overall efforts of Gen Z, which makes up the vast majority of TikTok's biggest influencers.
The Republican Party stands no chance against Gen Z. Love to see it.https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Tim: screeching voice of the minority (@Tim: screeching voice of the minority) 1630619036
I knew Gen Z would get the damn thing done. Quickly too. Good I love those fuckers so much.https://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Disappointed_Idealist (@Disappointed_Idealist) 1630624531
i love the youthhttps://twitter.com/josephfcox/status/1433466966992461831\u00a0\u2026— Stephanie G\u00f3mez (@Stephanie G\u00f3mez) 1630600739
The site has since enhanced its security.
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