Anonymous text messages containing disturbing content, including claiming that black Americans were “chosen to pick cotton,” were sent the day after Election Day to the following recipients: Over 20 states.
These types of threatening and racist messages should never have been sent. Unfortunately, our country does not have strong data privacy protections for its citizens' mobile phone numbers, and federal wireless gateway spam regulations continue to be relaxed. It was only a matter of time before someone spewed hateful messages through these channels.
It wasn't this way before, and it doesn't have to be this way.
In 2008, broadcast text messaging was a new, tightly controlled, spam-free form of communication. That year, I had the opportunity to send some of our nation's first text messages to engage the public. Barack Obama's unique short code was a five-digit phone number that allowed him to send text messages, and people had to actively opt-in to receive it, which took months to set up. Opt-in was the primary means of securing the experience, but it wasn't the only one. As is currently the case, short codes must be provisioned through a single national registry, approved by each carrier, and continuously monitored.
In 2008, this was even more important because U.S. consumers were paying premium prices for text messaging packages. Texting was a clean network with almost 100% read rates and zero spam. During this golden age of text messaging, politicians widely agreed that spamming the public was a bad thing. Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act of 1991 and Federal Trade Commission's CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 It prevented anyone from massaging unwanted spam messages and gave the industry autonomy. These laws included huge penalties and even prison terms for each message.
Unfortunately, by 2012, the innovation pendulum had inevitably swung from good to bad. Malicious attackers have figured out how to use text messages to suppress voters and spread anonymous hate.
Less than four years after President Obama's first text message that helped bring in a new generation of voters, nefarious agents were working to circumvent the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act. right-wing group Used email to text message spam to spread hateful misinformation and disinformation To suppress voter turnout. These texts were pushed In late October, he sent targeted voters messages such as “Obama supports homosexuality and his radical policies'' and “If re-elected, we will use our tax dollars to fund abortions.''
I was furious to see these anonymous spam messages being used to confuse and cause confusion among voters. petitioned the Federal Communications Commission To close loopholes that allowed this type of spam to be distributed to millions of voters. 3 years later, FCC finally issues declaratory ruling In my team's favor, we have strengthened the laws against such activities.
The messaging gateway is now protected again for a short period of time. Courts have even prosecuted violators and sent known message spammers. 27 months imprisonment In 2016. The Federal Trade Commission did its part, forcing Uber to pay $20 million. A charge of sending unsolicited text messages in violation of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act in 2017.
So what has happened since then?
As with everything in D.C., policy can change with a change of government or a bit of lobbying. After the 2016 election, 10-digit texting platforms formed an association. they are lobbied to loosen rules for political campaigns Under the new Trump administration, 10-digit phone numbers will be allowed to send “peer-to-peer” messages. It's this loophole that has blown up your, me, and every other American's phone inbox every election cycle ever since.
Peer-to-peer text platforms account for the majority of text messaging abuses that have grown from commonplace to cancerous. To make matters worse, the Supreme Court ruled in 2021 invalidating the protections of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act in the following cases: Facebook vs. Duguide, Changes the definition of “autodialer” and opens up the ability to allow more text spam.
In 2023, the current FCC under President Biden addressed several known security issues. scam text message sender However, the peer-to-peer loophole remained in place. Unfortunately, as we have all learned, politicians of all parties love to upload donor lists and send out mass requests for funding.
It doesn't have to be this way. Even if last week's hate messages came from malicious sources inside and outside the United States, no one could have registered so many phone numbers, uploaded personal cell phone data, or received so many in 20 states. There was no way it could have arrived without being intercepted.
Here's a quick fix to eliminate most of the unwanted text spam in the US.
- Carriers must immediately stop their ability to send large amounts of message traffic without proper registration through shortcode or 10-digit longcode registries. There are two such registries. Campaign validation (U.S. political campaigns and PACs only), and Campaign Registry (for all traffic). Both can be avoided. Campaign Verify and Campaign Registry have confirmed that these post-Election Day racist messages were not sent through phone numbers registered with either of our systems. This is not surprising. — Spammers tend not to follow policies. Because these messages travel through routes authorized exclusively by carriers, carriers can simply flip a switch to stop the messages and close the unregistered text spam highway.
- The mobile phone industry (carriers and operating system providers) can do more to protect customers from unwanted spam. Google Voice blocks many of these messages, and each carrier can do the same. This “open market” solution will not solve everyone's problems, but perhaps if one carrier steps forward, consumer demand will increase and others will follow.
- The FCC needs to take spam protection seriously and require everyone to follow a strict text message do-not-list with consequences for violating it.
- Congress should legislate fines for selling, sharing, and uploading cell phone data. This will quickly force the entire ecosystem to think twice before selling their data or sending spam messages.
Scott Goodstein was external online director. barack obamaworked on the 2008 presidential campaign, overseeing the campaign's social media platforms, mobile technology, and lifestyle marketing. He was the lead digital strategist. Bernie SandersFounder of the 2016 campaign. CatalystCampaigns.com.
