Abortion in the Surveillance State

The digital platforms people rely on to access or learn about abortion are also being wielded to spy on and punish them.

By Kylie Cheung
November 22, 2021

Shortly after Texas enacted Senate Bill 8, a near-total abortion ban that’s primarily enforced by citizens spying on and policing each other, Texas Right to Life launched what can really only be called a snitch hotline, calling on the nosiest of neighbors and worst of people to submit “tips” about people they suspected to be seeking or helping people seek abortions.

Things didn’t go as planned for the hotline, once the teens of TikTok and other Very Online abortion rights advocates caught wind of it. Good Samaritans across the internet joined forces to inundate the hotline with false tips, Shrek memes, furry porn, and other generally ludicrous submissions, rendering the thing useless for anyone but ride-or-die Shrek fans. The hotline — which likely would have been weaponized by abusive ex-partners or anti-abortion activists seeking to make an easy $10,000 by suing people who help others have abortions — has since been dropped by several hosting services.

Continued: https://jezebel.com/abortion-in-the-surveillance-state-1848076906


UK – Anti-abortion groups using geo-fencing tech to target women inside clinics

Anti-abortion groups using geo-fencing tech to target women inside clinics
Targeted ads, fake websites, and digital dossiers form a range of technologies used by organisations opposed to abortions

By Michael Cogley, Technology Correspondent
21 April 2020

Anti-abortion groups are using “geo-fencing” technology to target ads towards women inside abortion clinics, a new report has found.

The technology creates a virtual boundary around an area that will trigger a response when a mobile phone enters or leaves an area.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/04/21/anti-abortion-groups-using-geo-fencing-tech-target-women-inside/