Apple’s expected roll-out is going to disproportionately affect Republicans, critics say

Fundraisers are claiming that a planned Apple update is going to disproportionately affect Republicans.

A planned texting update that will be rolled out in September is reportedly going to inhibit GOP fundraising efforts by utilizing an “updated text filtration system that siphons text messages from unknown numbers that have no chat history with the recipient to a separate message folder that will not generate an alert to the recipient,” reports Fox News, according to American Made Media Company and Launchpad leaders.

American Made Media Company was the exclusive digital firm of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, and founding partner Sean Dollman says this move comes as “no surprise.”

“It’s no surprise that Big Tech wants to stop Donald Trump and other Republicans from communicating with people, because they’ve tried every other method to interfere already,” he told Fox News Digital. “Big Tech has suppressed him, suspended him, and banned him outright. And now they’re trying to make it so he can’t text anybody either. But MAGA won’t be stopped, and MAGA will always find a way.”

Fundraisers are also concerned that messages concerning registration reminders for potential voters, as well as notifications for campaign rallies, will be filtered out.

“Data from the 2024 election cycle showed Republicans leveraged text campaigns two-to-one compared to Democrats, putting them directly in the line of fire when the expected update takes effect in September — ahead of the midterms hitting a fever pitch as Democrats look to flip the House and Senate from Republican control,” Fox reported.

But it’s not just political texts that risk being targeted by this update.

“The text filtration’s scope is expected to extend far beyond just politics, including potentially siphoning texts concerning real-life issues such as doctor appointments from a number not saved in a person’s phone,” the article explains.

“The visibility of texts from unknown senders will get a facelift under the new update, with the filtered messages from unknown senders made more easily seen by users with a new filtration button at the top of Apple’s Messages app that will display a blue badge noting how many unread texts an iPhone user has received from unknown numbers, according to the Fast Company report, which sought to quell Republican fundraising concerns over the update,” Fox adds.

This is concerning news for iPhone and Apple product users who rely on text reminders and updates, and will likely be equivalent to checking your email’s “Spam” folder for missing messages.