In the midst of the election season, you may be noticing a rise in political texts.
“You know, at this time of the year, as we’re entering that political stage, we’re all receiving political texts,” said Gerald Kasulis, the vice president of business operations for NORD Security.
A call-blocking service called Robokiller estimates that Americans nationwide received 253 million political robotexts in December 2023.
If you’ve been receiving texts from candidates asking for donations even though you don’t remember giving them your number, you may have unknowingly granted permission.
“I personally receive political texts, and what’s interesting is I never actually signed up for any political parties or agreed to receive those types of texts,” Kasulis said.
So how do campaigns acquire this information? Sometimes, contact info is bought from commercial data brokers.
But experts explain that political committees and their service providers also utilize voter registration records, which are accessible to those involved in political communications. These records contain the names, addresses, and contact details of every registered voter.
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“Even if you haven’t signed up with a specific political party or consented to their outreach, there are different methods of obtaining data, and data is readily being bought and shared among different organizations or parent companies,” Kasulis added.
So, what regulations apply to political texts? The Federal Do Not Call Registry does not protect against campaign-related calls or texts.
Robokiller notes that politicians are increasingly turning to texts and robocalls because they yield higher engagement rates than traditional methods like TV ads.
Texting is also cost-effective. In some cases, it can be as inexpensive as one cent per message.
How to stop political texts
Experts suggest texting “stop” or opting out of these texts, but also advise taking further steps.
After replying with stop, block the number. You can also adjust the messaging settings on your phone to filter out texts from contacts not saved in your list.
If you wish to avoid political texts in the future, you can update your voter registration details and remove your phone number.
If you receive a text that you believe violates FCC rules, report it by forwarding the text to “7726,” which spells out the word “spam.”
