For those who would like to receive fewer of these communications, there’s a simple solution: keep replying “stop.”
This election year saw a nearly constant influx of text messages from political campaigns. Many people found themselves growing annoyed, having replied “stop” only to have more messages flood in. Why won’t political texts leave you alone? And how can you put a stop to them most effectively?
The good news is that the law does protect consumers from abuse of their personal information, and it’s possible to stem the tide of unwelcome political texts.
How the law protects you from unwelcome texts
First and foremost, the law contains certain protections for consumers regarding unwelcome communications from political campaigns, businesses, and other sources. Perhaps most notably, if an organization sends out a text, it must include a mechanism for unsubscribing or stopping further communications. That’s why you’ll often see “Text stop to opt-out,” “Text Stop2Stop,” or similar language at the end of a message.
However, it’s important to remember that if you give your contact information to a national political campaign — as opposed to smaller, more local campaigns like mine — they are more likely to share your information with other entities, such as their associated Victory Fund, state parties, or other like-minded campaigns. So, even if you tell one phone number to stop texting you, you could still receive political texts from another. While you may have shared your information with only one entity, they gave it to others.
For this reason, unsubscribing usually isn’t a one-and-done scenario but can take a bit of work because you’ll need to unsubscribe from each separate list. That said, if you tell a single number to stop and they persist, the continued text messages violate federal law and should be reported. You can submit a complaint through the Federal Communications Commission at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.
While receiving so many political texts might be annoying, it might help to understand why political campaigns send them.
The rationale for sending political texts
As a candidate for the state legislature, I’ve learned a lot about connecting with voters and building name recognition and have worked alongside an incredible campaign team. One thing we know is that a candidate can build meaningful name recognition if a voter comes across the candidate’s name at least seven times. Text messages are an easy way to get candidates’ names — and their message — in front of a wide variety of people. Campaign emails are a similarly helpful tool.
For recipients, especially the more politically engaged ones, this outreach from campaigns can feel like a lot. But where many people don’t pay close attention to politics — even in an election year — outreach is a necessary tool for candidates vying for local, state, or national office.
Indeed, Google search volumes for “Who is running for president” and “Did Joe Biden drop out” started trending the night of November 4.
Candidates need to figure out how to reach these less-informed voters, and text messages are part of the answer.
Did you know? Political texts aren’t always from a robot
While more prominent national candidates may use machines to send texts and engage with voters, smaller, more local candidates often monitor these communications themselves. When responding to a political text, many people assume they’re interacting with a robot, but that’s not always true.
For instance, I almost always read the responses I receive after my campaign sends out a text blast, even though I represent approximately 117,000 people in my State Senate district. If my schedule is too packed, a staff member or volunteer takes over. In both cases, however, a real human fields the incoming replies and responds. All text messages that come through with legitimate questions or other thoughts on the campaign always get a response from me or my team.
When you receive a political text, your phone carrier may ask if the text message is spam. Take note of the ramifications of saying yes, as marking these texts as spam could make the campaign’s outreach less effective. If you support the candidate, consider unsubscribing instead of reporting as spam.
Some people may feel tempted to start reporting fake contact information when interacting with political campaigns, but this could have negative repercussions. When reserving a spot at a rally, for instance, the campaign needs to contact you via your real email address or phone number to give you instructions for attendance and alert you to any last-minute changes. Also, if campaign donations are involved, state and federal rules require donors to report their information accurately.
Seeing both sides
As someone who receives many political texts myself, I understand how annoying they can be. However, as a candidate, I also understand their value — texts are a useful vehicle for raising awareness of one’s candidacy and campaign priorities.
When I ran my campaign for State Senate two years ago, and my team sent a text message out to voters, I would get a handful of replies that said, “Leave me alone,” or “I’m never voting for you.” Those messages were hard to read, but as a candidate, I cultivated a long-term perspective of the importance of getting my name and message out.
For those who would like to receive fewer of these communications, there’s a simple solution: keep replying “stop.”
Join the conversation!