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September 10, 2021, 1:26 pm
Q. Why do superheroes wear masks?
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A. Because they’re Anonymous.
Texas’ classist, misogynistic anti-choice law banning abortions took effect (all kinds of effects, really) on September 1st of this year. Although SCOTUS upheld the law, ethical hackers have joined Satanists at forefront of the battle to defend and protect reproductive freedom.
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By September 3, self-described affiliates of “hacktivist” group Anonymous had launched Operation Jane, tweeting out an AV press release that repudiated Texas’ anti-choice legislation and promised to combat it.
Operation Jane appears to be named as homage to The Jane Collective, an underground group in pre-Roe V. Wade America whose whisper network helped those in need obtain abortions.
Modern-day Operation Jane has similar goals, and can combat anti-choice encroachment virtually. “Every strategic model employed to collect information for SB-8 bounties will be compromised and rendered inoperable,” their press release promises. “We will exhaust the investigational resources of bounty hunters, their snitch sites, and online gathering spaces, until no one is able to maintain data integrity.” And the internet is here for it.
The press release’s reference to “bounty hunters” refers to civilians who sue abortion providers or recipients. Under the new Texas law, civilians may sue anyone whom they suspect has obtained or facilitated an abortion after week 6 of pregnancy. They can sue for up to $10,000 plus attorney’s fees. The monetary incentive has become known as an “abortion bounty,” and those who seek it are considered hunters. The law provides no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
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Operation Jane condemns Texas Senate Bill 8 for creating “an army of private enforcers” to effectively violate civilians’ federal constitutional rights. They note that other U.S. states are currently considering implementing similar legislation.
Operation Jane told the Daily Dot via Twitter DM that they view this as a “rare opportunity” for people outraged by the law to participate in a “massive form of online grassroots pressure to help protect access to reproductive healthcare.”
They stated that laws like SB-8 are likely only a first step in more widespread conservative attacks on federal rights. They expect these attacks on our rights to come via bounty systems that promote and reward vigilante behavior.
“In short,” they wrote, “we hope to create a legal clusterf-ck that slows down or prevents these lawsuits from coming to fruition.”
You can find and support Operation Jane via Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. It has also aggregated links to help those seeking abortions, as well as links to “snitch sites” that may be of interest to pro-choice hackers. Supporters are amplifying Operation Jane’s message and purpose by using hashtags like #OperationJane and #ExpectUsTexas
Operation Jane’s general goals are shared by independent tech-savvy people. Last week, for example, TikTok user Sean Black (@black_madness21) created a bot to spam a snitch site.
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The Lone Star state better buckle up. Sounds like people are only too delighted to mess with Texas.
*First Published: September 10, 2021, 1:26 pm
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