If your phone is blowing up with text messages on behalf of political candidates, you are not alone. They are difficult to block, but experts say there are steps to slow them down.
Why are so many of us getting text messages from campaigns? The AJC’s David Wickert reports that 2020 spending on political text messaging in Georgia is higher than all previous years combined, according to records from the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.
Campaigns obtain phone numbers from voter registration records and from information brokers. They use other data to target voters likely to be receptive to their message.
According to the FCC, senders of political text messages do not require the recipient’s permission, as long they follow FCC rules.
What can you do?
Replying “STOP” usually will unsubscribe you from a texting list. That will only stop texts from that sender. So you may have to reply “STOP” way more than once -- each time you get an unwanted text.
Often the instructions are included on the message you receive, according to an article on the Clark Howard consumer web site.
The calendar may help, too. The political texts should slow down after Election Day on Jan. 5.
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