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ABC News: Text service says it shut down accounts allegedly behind racist messages [View all]
ABC News - Text service says it shut down accounts allegedly behind racist messages
Smartphone users in several states have reported receiving the messages.
ByIvan Pereira, Kiara Alfonseca, and Sabina Ghebremedhin
November 8, 2024, 4:45 PM
A text messaging service said Friday that it discovered "one or more" of its users allegedly sent out racist text messages to phone numbers across the country and that the service quickly shut down the accounts.
A representative from TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, told ABC News that the company was cooperating with law enforcement and condemned the vile messages that were sent to users this week.
The texts, which tell the user they're going to be taken to a plantation to "pick cotton," have been reported in at least 14 states and primarily appeared to target Black users from teenagers to adults, according to investigators in several states.
The messages address the recipients by name.
The TextNow representative said once the accounts that were allegedly behind the texts were reported, their teams disabled the accounts in less than an hour.
/snip
Smartphone users in several states have reported receiving the messages.
ByIvan Pereira, Kiara Alfonseca, and Sabina Ghebremedhin
November 8, 2024, 4:45 PM
A text messaging service said Friday that it discovered "one or more" of its users allegedly sent out racist text messages to phone numbers across the country and that the service quickly shut down the accounts.
A representative from TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, told ABC News that the company was cooperating with law enforcement and condemned the vile messages that were sent to users this week.
The texts, which tell the user they're going to be taken to a plantation to "pick cotton," have been reported in at least 14 states and primarily appeared to target Black users from teenagers to adults, according to investigators in several states.
The messages address the recipients by name.
The TextNow representative said once the accounts that were allegedly behind the texts were reported, their teams disabled the accounts in less than an hour.
/snip
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