This anti-abortion whistleblowing site is being flooded with Shrek porn

If you thought that Shrek was just a swamp-dwelling hypebeast, then think again. As of this week, pro-choice advocates have also adopted NSFW clips of the animated ogre to troll an anti-abortion whistleblowing website in Texas, in scenes that are being compared to TikTok’s longstanding feud with Donald Trump.

Admittedly, that sentence is a lot to take in, so first some background. Starting on September 1 this year, Texas is set to enact a near-total abortion ban, after the state’s so-called “heartbeat bill” was signed into law by the governor, Greg Abbott, back in May. The law makes very few exceptions, including for pregnancy by non-consensual sex, and will prohibit women from seeking abortions after six weeks.

In June, a viral video of Paxton Smith, a valedictorian at a Texas high school, saw her eloquently criticise the ban in an off-script graduation speech. “Starting in September, there will be a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest,” she explains. “Six weeks. That’s all women get.”

As Smith points out, this isn’t even enough time for many women to realise that they’re pregnant. “I have dreams, hopes, and ambitions,” she adds. “Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us.”

Despite widespread criticism and lawsuits from abortion rights activists, supporters of the ban have been preparing for it to come into effect, inviting people to turn in those they suspect of breaching the law via an anonymous form. Hosted on prolifewhistleblower.com, the tip line encourages users to “help enforce the Texas Heartbeat Act anonymously” by providing information and “evidence” in the form of visual attachments.

Enter: Shrek erotica. Since supporters of the pro-choice movement caught wind of the anonymous snitching site, they’ve shared various ways to disrupt it on social media. As one Reddit post sarcastically reads: “It would be a shame if we all made bogus tips, making the whole system useless.”

While one TikToker has been reported “uploading large amounts of Shrek porn”, others have submitted similarly NSFW attachments, ranging from furry porn to Goatse (if you’re unfamiliar, probably don’t look it up). Yet more users — many based outside Texas, using a VPN — have simply submitted tips under false names and addresses.

On Twitter, web developer Claire Ryan has shared more specific tips on “how to poison a dataset”, noting that the fake data has to be basically indistinguishable from real data (so not cartoon porn, unfortunately). “Get enough people using random names, from a residential IP, making plausible reports,” she writes, “and you can’t ID the real data in the noise.”

“I’d guess there is some significant work involved in following up on these reports. What you need to do is waste enough of their time with junk reports until it’s no longer viable to go after the bounties for the real ones.”

Take a look at the advice on disrupting the anti-abortion tip line in the thread below. Troll pro-life campaigners with Shrek nudes at your own discretion.