Facebook And Google Help Cops Prosecute Women Seeking Abortions

Tech companies like Google and Meta are increasingly handing data over to law enforcement agencies to arrest and eventually prosecute women who seek abortions in states where it is no longer legal. While these requests are being done lawfully through subpoenas from the courts, it is exceptionally troublesome for women to have their private data rummaged through without their consent, especially as their own bodies are now regulated by the government. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Researchers have been digging into how Facebook and Google are providing police officers with private user information in order to prosecute women seeking to have abortions. We all know the story, I'm sure by now, of the, uh, mother and daughter from Nebraska who used Facebook Messenger to, uh, uh, basically get what is called an illegal abortion, thanks to Republican laws. And Facebook meta was forced to turn over those records. They were subpoenaed. And of course then the, uh, mother and daughter tried to illegally dispose of the remains, uh, of the fetus. And yeah, you're definitely gonna get in trouble for that. But seeking the abortion should not have been a crime. The, the, the mother and daughter should not have had to go this route at all, but Republican laws forced them to do it. They thought they were having private conversations with their private accounts on Facebook only to find out that this information was turned over to the police.

It's the same thing with Google. According to a report from ProPublica, women seeking abortion pills from online pharmacies are finding that their data is being turned over from Google to law enforcement authorities. So not only, and this is the terrifying part, not only do women not have autonomy over their own bodies, they don't have privacy with regard to their own bodies. They also don't have privacy online when searching for information about their bodies or talking with other people about their own personal bodies. Women are no longer people here in the United States thanks to these draconian Republican laws. This is the country in which we live. And just to make sure everybody understands Facebook and Google did not just turn this information over, Hey, we were scrolling through messages or searches, and we wanted you to have this. They've only turned it over on subpoena, you know, when they've been legally required to do it, when police have a warrant. But it still is a massive invasion of privacy, not just in the women's bodies, but now in their search histories. Nothing that women in this country do. If you live in a red state, is private, they will find you. They will come after you. They will subpoena everybody they need to subpoena. And as legal experts have pointed out, these big tech companies have no incentive at all to protect your personal data.

I'm not telling this story only as a warning about how horrible things are becoming in the United States. I'm also telling this story is a bit of a lesson. For anyone out there who may be in a situation like this, know your enemies, know who is turning over this data,

Avoid those platforms at all costs. You do not want to be the next person busted because you ran afoul of a Republican law. That should be unconstitutional. But because our Supreme Court is made up of a bunch of activists and black robes, it's illegal. So protect yourself as best you can. Tech companies are not your friend. They will not protect your data that's on you moving forward. I, I, I, I hope you're able to, to get what you need. I hope you're able to have autonomy over your body. But until we hit that point, be careful what you say on social media cuz Republicans will 100% use that against you in court.