TikTok Users Turn To iPhone’s Shortcuts Tool To Troll Texas Anti-Abortion Site
Image via ID 214817224 © Seemanta Dutta | Dreamstime.com
Following last week’s controversial Texas law banning abortions, an anti-abortion group is encouraging citizens to use a website to anonymously report anyone they know is seeking the procedure, now ruled illegal after six weeks of pregnancy.
In an effort to protect people who need to have an abortion but are now at risk of being charged for doing so, users have resorted to flooding the site with spam “reports.”
I've been keeping that hotline rather busy today. Join me, won't you? https://t.co/4VxWwwW5Ci pic.twitter.com/h2ihbcevOI
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) September 2, 2021
Doing it repeatedly can get tiring and is time-consuming, though. But this problem has found a solution: iOS Shortcuts is being weaponized by a fleet on TikTok. Created by user Sean Black, it automates the process and fires reports faster than any human hands could type up.
The script by the name of ‘AbBOT’ sends a fake report to the site every 10 to 15 seconds. A random Texan city, county and ZIP code is generated, and this data is entered into the site's reporting form.
@black_madness21 #stitch with @victoriahammett I’ll see if I can add some multithreading to speed up this process
♬ original sound - Sean Black
Detailed in a video, Black showed that he was able to send off around 300 requests before his IP was blocked from the website. It uses realistic information, and this is harder to detect than regular spam entries, he tells Motherboard.
After the IP ban, Black created a workaround: a Shortcut for iOS devices. This was shared to his followers, and it was reported from Black’s Linktree page that around 4,870 people have clicked the link to access it.
After the site introduced a CAPTCHA check to slow efforts exactly like this, Black’s code has had to go back to the drawing board, but it’s not insurmountable.
“While I feel it’s best to not reveal how I intend on dealing with this hurdle, I will say I am working on a solution,” Black assures.
“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,” he states.
The kids will save us
— Estella Hamilton (@Estella60337614) September 2, 2021
[via AppleInsider, image via ID 214817224 © Seemanta Dutta | Dreamstime.com]
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