Escape Political Texts: Reclaim Your Peace With These Steps

Political text messages are a common occurrence, especially during election season, with candidates and causes you may not have heard of blowing up your phone asking for your vote or money. While these messages are largely unregulated, there are ways to reduce the clutter in your text inbox.

Explore related products

Stopping the Deportation Machine: One Immigrant Student's Arrest and the Kids Who Took on Washington to Get Him Back

$36 $32.4

Ground Stop: An Inside Look at the Federal Aviation Administration on September 11, 2001

$15.95

Don't Stop Thinking About the Music: The Politics of Songs and Musicians in Presidential Campaigns

$17.96 $57.99

Democratization: A Critical Introduction (Political Analysis, 34)

$52.95

The Evolution of Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections: Landmark Documents, 1787-2007

$59.2 $74

Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods

$35.67

Report spam texts by forwarding them to 7726

If you're tired of receiving spam political text messages, there are a few things you can do to put a stop to them. Firstly, you can report the senders by forwarding the texts to 7726 ("SPAM"). This will help to reduce the number of unwanted texts you receive. It's important to be cautious of scammers who may try to trick you into giving them your personal or financial information. They might promise free prizes or offer you a low-interest credit card. Do not click on any links in text messages from unknown senders, as this could give them access to your personal information or accounts.

Another option to reduce the number of unwanted texts is to change your phone settings to filter out unknown senders. This can be done through your phone's settings or by using a call-blocking app. Many phone companies offer call-blocking services, such as AT&T's ActiveArmor mobile security app and Verizon's Call Filter FAQS. These apps can help to block spam and scam calls and texts. However, filtering unknown senders may cause you to miss important text reminders, such as those for doctor's appointments or restaurant reservations.

Additionally, you can contact your phone company to learn more about blocking and labeling solutions they may offer. Some companies provide call labeling services that display categories for potentially unwanted calls, such as "spam" or "scam likely". You can also check with your wireless device manufacturer about built-in features in your phone's settings that can be used to block unwanted calls and texts from specific numbers.

It's worth noting that during an election season, you may experience an increase in political text messages. While campaign calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry requirements, they must follow the specific rules outlined in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Political campaigns are also required to honor opt-out requests, so replying "STOP" to their messages should remove you from their contact list.

Reply STOP to any political text messages

Political text messages can be frustrating, invasive, and sometimes even dangerous. While political campaign phone calls and texts are exempt from the Do Not Call list, you can take several steps to reduce or block these unwanted messages.

First, you can reply "STOP" to any political text messages you receive. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), legitimate text campaign operators should remove you from their list if you reply with "STOP". This is because, in general, political campaigns are required to obtain prior consent from the recipient to send automated text messages. By replying "STOP", you are revoking your consent and opting out of further communication.

Additionally, you can report unwanted political text messages by forwarding them to 7726 or "SPAM". If the messages persist or you believe they violate FCC rules, you can file an informal complaint with the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints. While political texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, filing a complaint gives you standing to send a TCPA "demand letter" to the campaign, notifying them of the alleged violation.

To further reduce unwanted political text messages, you can adjust your phone settings to filter out text messages from unknown senders or enable spam protection to redirect such messages to a separate folder. You can also contact the campaign office directly to request that they stop sending you messages. Additionally, you can consider investing in personal data removal services, such as Incogni, to have your personal information removed from data broker databases. However, keep in mind that no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet.

Lastly, be cautious of links in political text messages, as they may contain malware or lead to fraudulent websites. Avoid clicking on links from unknown senders, and be wary of messages with a sense of urgency or those asking for monetary donations or personal information.

Change your phone settings to filter out unknown senders

If you're tired of being bombarded with political text messages, you're not alone. In October 2020, Americans received over 13 billion texts related to campaigns. These unwanted texts can feel like a violation, as your phone is a personal space.

One way to reduce the clutter in your text inbox is to change your phone settings to filter out unknown senders. Here's how to do it:

For iPhone users:

• Navigate to Settings.
• Select "Messages" from the menu.
• Toggle on the "Filter Unknown Senders" option. This will limit the texts you receive from numbers that are not already in your contacts.

For Android users:

• Navigate to the Messages app.
• Choose the text from the number you want to block.
• Tap the option to block the number.
• Decide whether to report the text as spam (optional).
• Click "OK" to block the number.

Additionally, you can use a call-and-text-blocking app, such as Should I Answer?, Hiya, or Truecaller. However, keep in mind that these apps may ask for sensitive information.

While changing your phone settings can help filter out unknown senders, it's important to note that you might miss important text reminders from unknown numbers, such as those for doctor's appointments or restaurant reservations.

If you're receiving political texts, it's likely because your voter information is public. When you register to vote, your information becomes available to campaigns and voting organizations. If you've provided your phone number to a political party or voting-related organization, you may have also given them permission to text you about campaigns.

To stop receiving political texts, you can reply "STOP" to any message. Legitimate campaigns should honor opt-out requests. You can also report unwanted texts by forwarding them to 7726 or "SPAM." If the texts don't comply with FCC rules, you can file an informal complaint through the FCC's website.

Explore related products

The Security Archipelago: Human-Security States, Sexuality Politics, and the End of Neoliberalism (a Social Text book)

$24.27 $34.95

Politics in States and Communities

$85.67 $206.65

Policing and Race in America: Economic, Political, and Social Dynamics

$45.59 $48.59

Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking to Build a Brighter Future (Essential Texts for Nonprofit and Public Leadership and Management)

$36.99 $63

Puritan Political Ideas (The American Heritage Series)

$12.5

Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968 (Debating Twentieth-Century America)

$24.96 $42

File a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission

If you are tired of receiving political text messages, you can file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC has declared that campaign calls and text messages are exempt from National Do Not Call Registry requirements. However, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) contains specific rules that campaigns must follow. Political campaigns are not allowed to send autodialed or prerecorded voice calls, including autodialed live calls, autodialed texts, and prerecorded voice messages to cell phones, pagers, or other mobile devices without your prior express consent.

If you think you have received a political robocall or text that does not comply with the FCC's rules, you can file an informal complaint with the FCC. Here are the steps to file a complaint:

• Online: Filing a complaint online is the quickest and most effective way. Go to fcc.gov/complaints and provide your name, address, contact information, and as many details about your complaint as possible.
• Phone: You can also call 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) to file a complaint.
• ASL Video Call: If you prefer, you can make an ASL video call to 1-844-432-2275.
• Mail: You can send your complaint by mail to the following address: Federal Communications Commission Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. Remember to include your name, address, contact information, and a detailed description of your complaint.

It is important to note that in some cases, the FCC may not have the authority to resolve individual complaints directly. However, they can provide additional resources and guide you through possible next steps, including directing you to other agencies that may have jurisdiction over your issue.

Use a personal data removal service to remove your phone number from data brokers

Data brokers collect, share, and sell a wide range of personal information, including phone numbers. This may include demographic details (age, sex, location), contact information (email, phone number), social media activity, browsing history, purchase history, financial information, educational background, professional history, and even sensitive data like health conditions and political affiliations.

Data brokers collect personal data by using a combination of scraping tools, online forms, and publicly accessible websites. These data brokerage companies can build detailed dossiers about you — eventually seen on “white pages” or people-search websites.

To remove your phone number from data brokers, you can use a personal data removal service. These services can be useful, but it's important to understand that they aren't "one and done" solutions. Data brokers relentlessly refresh their data, causing removed details to resurface, which requires ongoing removals.

• DeleteMe: This service removes your data from leading broker sites like BeenVerified, Spokeo, and Whitepages. Plans start from $129 per year, with discounts for additional users.
• Incogni: Incogni offers a data broker removal service that includes regular privacy reports. You'll need to provide your name, email address, and home address to help match your profile with records in data broker databases and on people-search sites. You can add more current and past addresses and phone numbers to extend the search.
• Privacy Bee: Privacy Bee has a proprietary tiered escalation approach to ensure successful removal, even going as far as invoking applicable privacy legislation to legally compel companies to remove your data. They utilize state-of-the-art monitoring to instantly detect re-exposures across major brokers and have the industry's highest removal success rating.
• Onerep: Onerep is a fully automated service that scans 211 data broker sites for your profiles and completes all the opt-out work for you. They check back until they verify that your profile has been removed and, if not, send repeated opt-out requests as many times as needed. They also monitor each site monthly and immediately begin the removal process again if your information is republished.

While these services can be helpful, it's worth noting that they may not cover all data brokers, and there is no guarantee that data brokers will comply with removal requests. Manual removal is also an option, but it can be time-consuming and require ongoing monitoring.

Frequently asked questions