The Flood of Political Texts Ahead of the Midterms
A massive wave of campaign texts is overwhelming phones as the U.S. midterm elections approach.
The surge of political text messages is set to peak as the U.S. midterm elections draw near.
Scale of the texting blitz
Robokiller, a call‑blocking company, reports that 15 billion political texts were sent in 2022. Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, estimates that 25 billion to 30 billion political texts have been sent so far this year, noting that the figure is an informal approximation.
Legal backdrop
The volume is linked to a Supreme Court decision the year before that made it easier to send certain mass calls and texts without the recipient’s consent.
Consumer protections
Teresa Murray, director of the PIRG consumer watchdog, explains that political calls and texts are exempt from the do‑not‑call‑list rules, meaning standard opt‑out mechanisms do not apply.
What can users do?
While there are steps consumers can take to try to reduce the flow of messages, experts say those actions are unlikely to make a significant dent before the election day on Tuesday, November 3.
Until the ballots are counted, phones will continue to buzz with campaign pleas and voter reminders.
