TikTokers bombard Texas anti-abortion whistleblower website with Shrek porn, false information

Organization Texas Right to Life is urging citizens to submit anonymous tips on its website to help enforce the state's new anti-abortion law.

So a handful of TikTokers decided to put whistleblowing into their own hands —by flooding the organization's website with Shrek porn (and other deliberately false information).

The effort to troll the anti-abortion group was spearheaded by Gen Zers Victoria Hammett and Olivia Julianna, who both said they felt appalled by the recent legislation, which forbids abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy. The law also allows private citizens, including people who live outside of Texas, to sue abortion providers or anyone else who helped someone get an abortion after the six-week limit for at least $10,000 per defendant.

"Texas has anonymously set up a system where you can report people who have gotten abortions," Hammett, 22, said in an Aug. 23 TikTok video, which has amassed more than 850,000 views. "Wouldn't it be so awful if we send in a bunch of fake tips and crashed the site? Like, 'Greg Abbott's butt stinks.'"

Julianna, 18, a native Texan, said she knew she wanted to take action after learning about Texas Right to Life's website.

"I found out about this website and thought, 'We have to do whatever we can if they're going to use the internet against us — the very people who were raised on the internet,'" Julianna said.

Shortly after, Hammett posted her own video to raise awareness about the anti-abortion website. Their message quickly exploded.

"The reaction has been amazing because people have felt really lost in regards to this anti-abortion legislation, and this was just one way of fighting back against this new law," Hammett said.

Many TikTok users, according to Hammett, have deliberately sent fake information to the website, including tips with titles like "Greg Abbott farts" or "calls to abort Ted Cruz." Some have sent graphic images of Shrek, while others have reported excerpts from the 2007 film, "Bee Movie," or Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" series.

TikToker Sean Black, 20, who asked NBC News not to use his real name out of fear for his safety, said he used his own software engineering expertise to get a little more creative.

"I coded this bot that basically spams the website with fake submissions," he said. "Once the bot is downloaded, it will automatically open the website, fill out the form with fake data that makes it look like you're in Texas, submit it and then re-submit it, again and again."

According to Black, more than 30,000 people have already downloaded the bot as of Friday afternoon.

Attempting to crash the anti-abortion website is one of several initiativesthat Gen Zers have spearheaded using TikTok as a tool to spread the word. Last year, some users launched an anti-racist campaign to flood some websites and apps that were collecting crime tips with K-pop fan videos.

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Though some TikTokers said their submissions have led to the website crashing, Kim Schwartz, the director of media and communication at Texas Right for Life, told NBC News that the organization has not experienced any issues with the website so far.

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"People who have been saying it crashed are confused," she said in an email Thursday. "If people can't access it, it's because they're blocked. People who have been reporting fake tips get their IPs blocked."

Schwartz said the group anticipated trolls, and has implemented safeguards on its website. She declined to specify the safeguards to prevent further spam.

If people want to submit additional fake tips, Schwartz said they can use the organization's "new site," ProChoiceTrolls.com, which links to a video of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" — a bait-and-switch practice better known as "Rick Rolling."

Even with preventative measures in place, Julianna said TikTokers, particularly Gen-Z teens, are just going to continue to do what they know how to do best.

"What these anti-abortion people ought to realize is that this may only seem like a silly, trolling campaign to us young people, but this is our way to try to ruin their plan and buy us some more time to get Roe v. Wade federally codified," she said. "I don't think these anti-abortion people realize the internet isn't their space; it's ours. We grew up on it, and we know how to navigate it."

Hammett agreed, adding that she knew messing with the website wasn't going to substantially prevent the anti-abortion law from being enforced.

"This effort was to get more people talking about this problem," she said. "The most important thing right now is: We need to do more, we need to protest, we need to phone bank, and we need to go and vote Greg Abbott and these other Republican lawmakers out."