Following the recent presidential election, federal and state agencies are actively investigating a series of racist mass texts that were sent to Black individuals across the United States. The messages, which made references to slavery and instructed recipients to board a bus to a 'plantation' to work as slaves, have sparked outrage and concern.
The FBI, along with other law enforcement departments, are looking into these disturbing messages that were reported in multiple states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also joined the investigation, emphasizing that such targeting is unacceptable and will be taken seriously.
The texts, which were sent anonymously and used a VPN to conceal their origin, were particularly distressing as they were directed at school-aged children and college students. Phone service provider TextNow confirmed that some of their accounts were used to send the messages and promptly disabled those accounts for violating their terms of service.
Various major wireless carriers, including AT&T and Verizon, acknowledged the industry-wide issue and referred inquiries to an industry trade group. The U.S. wireless industry has taken steps to block thousands of these racist texts and is collaborating with law enforcement to address the situation.
Parents and educators have expressed deep concern over the impact of these messages on young Black Americans. The messages, which targeted historically Black college students as well, have raised fears of intimidation and racism resurfacing in society.
Experts have highlighted the sinister nature of using technology to perpetrate such acts of racism, noting that the ease of communication through text messages has enabled perpetrators to reach a wide audience. The lack of filtering mechanisms for text messages in the U.S. has made it challenging to prevent such incidents, but law enforcement agencies are working diligently to trace the source of these attacks.
As investigations continue, authorities are urging recipients of these messages to report them to local law enforcement. The goal is to uncover all the facts and hold those responsible for these racist texts accountable for their actions.
