If you thought political spam messages were a 2022 fever dream, think again — Clive Palmer is back with a political party blowing up your phone like an ex who doesn’t understand boundaries. In the last week, millions of Australians say they’re being straight up spammed by an authorised Trumpet of Patriots candidate, and even worse, you can block ’em but they just keep coming back.
One week out from the federal elections, Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots are in full swing with their ‘campaigning’, sending daily texts promising to let you “take your super anytime”, “forgive student debt”, “cut immigration by 80 per cent”, and “solve housing fast trains 20 min CBD cheaper land” (let me just point out, it’s honestly unclear what CBD they’re on about or from where).
The texts all come with the authorisation tag from “H Fong” AKA Harold ‘Harry’ Fong, the Trumpet of Patriot’s lead Senate candidate for Queensland, as well as a link to the Trumpet of Patriots’ website that looks extremely suss to click on. There’s also no “opt out” option, meaning some people getting up to three texts every day can’t do much about it.
Some Aussies have been lucky enough to have their spam filters move these straight to the bin, but for millions of others, it’s a pretty frustrating way to go about your day, every day.
“Isn’t this harassment? Stalking? I never signed up for these. I realise, if I gave a business my number they can text me, but they have an opt-out option. These blasted Palmer texts don’t allow you to stop them and you can’t even block [them],” one user shared on X (formerly Twitter).
One user described the texts as “rude and invasive” and another added they’re “so over” these Trumpet of Patriot texts. Bestie, you and me both.
Is it legal for politicians to spam your inbox?
Promotions over text like this are regulated by the Australian Consumer Media Authority (ACMA) under the Spam Act of 2003, covering all commercial electronic communications that “offer, advertise or promote goods or services” (think: telemarketing companies).
But during local, state and territory or federal election campaigns, political parties are exempt from spam and marketing laws. These messages aren’t considered commercial because politicians are campaigning for votes, not purchases, per ABC News, and it means parties don’t legally need to send an opt-out option or disclose where they get voters’ phone numbers from.
It also means they can “effectively say what they like”, Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) spokesman Evan Ekin-Smyth told the Australian Financial Review, as long as they carry the standard “authorised by” disclaimer expected on all political material.
“Unless they’re misrepresenting the act of casting a vote, we don’t regulate the content,” Ekin-Smyth said.
How did they get your number?
Fair question! Chances are, you’ve given out your info at some point, like signing up for a loyalty program or filling out a form online to get a discount, which often ends up in databases that get bought and sold over and over. The candidate probably got your digits by paying a marketing or polling agency to send out texts and these databases are where these agencies pull your number from to contact you.
So, contrary to popular belief, the numbers don’t come from commission, Ekin-Smyth clarified.
“One of the things that we do want to make very clear – because people have a misunderstanding about where they get the details from – the phone numbers don’t come from us,” he said, per the AFR.
“[The AEC] does not provide phone numbers on the electoral roll to people, to political parties, to do this sort of thing.”
Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV, Dr Mark Gregory, associate professor at RMIT University, observed the messages could vary depending on where voters live.
“The people that will be bombarded are people who live in marginal seats,” he explained, adding that agencies aren’t likely to spend money targeting people living in safe seats.
Why do the texts keep coming after I’ve blocked them?
Unfortunately, you might need to ride out this wave till the election campaign comes to an end.
Blocking the number won’t work because it is not coming from a real, owned number, so they’ll just text you again from a different number. (Seriously sounding like that clingy ex). Reporting it to ACMA also won’t work because this doesn’t breach the code.
Of course, this hasn’t stopped people from popping off at the texts. They’re even giving “H Fong” a taste of his own medicine after a landline number and phone number, believed to be his contact details, were reportedly shared by some social media users.
“If you don’t like the texts, let him know,” said one user on X while another encouraged Australians to “feel free to treat his inbox the same way he treats yours”.
Ultimately, while governments have come a long way in the last two decades to give consumers a way to opt out of such communications, “there’s still a long way to go”, according to RMIT University’s Dr Gregory.
“But as far as political messaging is concerned, I don’t think that any government will change the current situation, simply because they will argue that it’s a part of our political process that political parties are able to communicate with voters,” he told P.TV.
“Right now, if you don’t like the message because you vote for political party A and you get a message from political party B, simply hit the delete button, right? It is something we have to understand, it’s part of our political process,” he said, adding that he’d still prefer this to the alternative.
“There are times when even I feel that they’re just bombarding me with stuff I’m not interested in, but I then remind myself that if we don’t have ability for political parties to connect with people and politicians to connect with people, then people become dislocated from the political process.”
He added: “This is basically a small cost to ensure that our democracy remains strong.”
Can’t say I disagree with that notion and thankfully, election day is right around the corner. But not gonna lie, I’m really jealous of my friends with better spam filters right now.
Lead image: Getty
The post The Trumpet Of Patriots Is Straight-Up Spamming Inboxes & People Are Justifiably Pissed appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
