DALLAS - Young people on social media have found a way to protest Texas' new law banning most abortions by focusing on a website established by the state's largest anti-abortion group that takes in tips on violations.
They've shared short videos and guides on how to flood the Texas Right to Life site with fake information, memes and prank photos; it's an online activism tactic that comes naturally to a generation that came of age in the internet era.
"I got the idea of, OK, well, we can sabotage these things online. It's kind of like internet activism. Is it something we can realistically do and it's not going to take us very long to do it," said an 18-year-old TikTok user who goes by the name Olivia Julianna, using only her first and middle name due to safety concerns.
The law that took effect this month prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which is usually around six weeks and before some women know they're pregnant. It doesn't make exceptions for rape or incest.
Though abortion providers say the law is unconstitutional, they say they are abiding by it.
"The law was not actually designed to be carried out in the sense of litigation, it's designed to deter," said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "It's just designed to bring the entire system of women's health care to a screeching halt through fear."
The website was down over the long weekend after host GoDaddy kicked it off, saying it violated the company's terms of service, including a provision against collecting identifying information without consent. As of Tuesday, the site was being redirected to Texas Right to Life's main website.
Texas Right to Life spokeswoman Kimberlyn Schwartz said Tuesday that the website's domain is now registered with Epik and they're in the process of moving to a new host, but aren't yet disclosing which one.