Texas GOP website down after Anonymous hack and replaced by Planned Parenthood fundraiser

Website URL was reclaimed on Monday but most of site remained down

The website of the Texas Republican Party was the victim of an apparent hacking attack over the weekend and remained mostly offline on Monday.

The attack appeared to have been committed by individuals affiliated with the Anonymous movement; pages of the site were replaced with images of Pokémon, links directing users to the YourAnonNews Twitter account, and pop artist Rick Astley’s viral meme hit Never Gonna Give You Up.

Motivation for the hack was centred around the state’s new abortion ban, which prohibits the practice after six weeks of the pregnancy and has effectively stopped abortions in some parts of the state altogether.

Attackers also provided a link to the website of Planned Parenthood of Texas and stated in a video describing the attack as “Operation Jane” that they planned to launch similar hacking efforts aimed at interfering with any public or private entities associated with enforcing the abortion ban through its unique provision offering rewards of up to $10,000 to private citizens who file successful lawsuits against those accused of aiding an abortion after six weeks of the pregnancy.

No lawsuits have yet been filed under the state’s new law, which went into effect on the first of September. Abortion rights activists were hoping that an emergency plea for relief at the Supreme Court would halt the law from taking effect, but the court’s newly-cemented conservative majority declined to do so.

On Monday, the Texas Republican Party appeared to have regained partial control of the site; none of its usual content was available, and all URLs redirected to a splash page that outlined the attack and asked for donations. The extent of the Anonymous hack could still be seen on Internet Archive screenshots from over the weekend.

“While the nation paused over the weekend in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 the Republican Party of Texas website was hacked,” read the website on Monday, adding: “Pro-abortion activists targeted us because of our strong support for the Heartbeat Act. This attack adds to a growing list of actions by the radical left who tries to silence anyone that disagrees with them.”

“We have been able to secure our website, but make no mistake, threats and attacks like this only strengthen our resolve,” the website added.