Tech companies must protect Black people who need access to abortions from abortion bounty hunters.

The graphic reads, "Tech companies, protect Black people from TX SB8 by eliminating anti-abortion bounty hunting, harassment, and privacy invasion." There is a pair of hands holding a cellphone with the Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter apps on the screen.

John, 

On September 1, Texas passed Senate Bill 8 (SB8), a draconian and blatantly unconstitutional law that allows private citizens anywhere in the country to become bounty hunters to enforce a six-week abortion ban.1 Although Color Of Change and other organizations are working hard to respond to this violation of rights and bodily autonomy, people across the country are already using social media platforms to track down women and people who need access to abortions, abortion activists, and abortion providers in Texas, and accuse them of breaking this new law.2 This egregious behavior is not just legal—it is encouraged through financial incentives of $10,000 or higher.

DEMAND TECH COMPANIES NOT SUPPORT TX SB8

Anti-abortion extremists are using Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook to coordinate the harassment and bounty hunting of women and people seeking abortions.3,4 Due to systemic racial and economic barriers, Black women will suffer the brunt of the harm; Black women continue to have the highest abortion rate, nearly four times higher than white women.5 Barriers that Black women face, driving this disparity, include the denial of necessary resources, like health insurance, prenatal care, and contraceptives.6 With the highest rate of abortion, and the historic failures of social media platforms to protect Black women specifically, Black women will overwhelmingly be the target of these bounty-hunting and harassment efforts if tech companies do not act.7,8

We are looking to tech companies to prioritize the safety and well-being of Black people when the law does not. Several companies have already taken action against this law: GoDaddy terminated its hosting services for one of Texas’ bounty hunting platforms, Right to Life, and Reddit removed the forum for Texas bounty hunters.9,10 Even companies like Lyft and Uber have announced that they would cover the legal costs of Texas drivers who might be sued for driving people to abortion clinics.11

However, Facebook and Twitter have yet to take action, and there is room for Reddit to implement guidelines that further prevent abortion bounty hunting. If these companies do not take action, they will be in violation of their own community guidelines around harassment.12-14 So we are demanding that these tech companies take action: they must prevent users from harassing and invading the privacy of women, people seeking abortions, activists, and medical professionals. Join us in calling on tech companies to stop abortion bounty hunting on their platforms. 

TELL TECH COMPANIES TO PROTECT BLACK PEOPLE FROM ABORTION BOUNTY HUNTERS

 

Until justice is real, 
Jade Magnus Ogunnaike and the Color Of Change team 

References: 

  1. “Bill Text: TX SB8 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled,” LegiScan, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323982?t=7&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  2. “Violence against abortion clinics hit a record high last year. Doctors say it's getting worse,” CBS News, September 17, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323983?t=9&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  3. Kendall Brown, September 02, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323984?t=11&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  4. Kendall Brown, September 02, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323985?t=13&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  5. “Black Women’s Maternal Health: A Multifaceted Approach to Addressing Persistent and Dire Health Disparities,” National Partnership for Women and Families, April 2018, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323986?t=15&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  6. Madeline Y. Sutton, Ngozi F. Anachebe, Regina Lee, and Heather Skanes, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Reproductive Health Services and Outcomes,” Obstetric and Gynecology, January 5, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323987?t=17&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  7.  “The State of Online Harassment,” Pew Research Center, January 13, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323988?t=19&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  8. “New Study Confirms That Black Women Are Most Abused Group on Twitter,” Colorlines, December 19, 2018, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323989?t=21&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  9. Jon Brodkin, “GoDaddy boots Texas abortion ‘whistleblower’ site for violating privacy rule,” Ars Technica, September 03, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323990?t=23&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  10. Samantha Cole, “Reddit Bans Abortion Bounty Hunter Forum,” Vice News, September 07, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323991?t=25&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  11. Preetika Rana, “Lyft, Uber to Cover Legal Costs of Drivers Sued Under Abortion Law,” The Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323992?t=27&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  12. “Reddit Content Policy,” Reddit, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323993?t=29&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  13. “The Twitter Rules,” Twitter, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323994?t=31&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.
  14. “Coordinating Harm and Publicizing Crime,” Facebook, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/323995?t=33&akid=52120%2E4731121%2EupXavu.

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please help keep our movement strong.

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