Political text message filter

Filter what campaigns repeat

Campaign texts often repeat the same themes: donations, polls, voting deadlines, candidate names, campaign slogans, and opt-out disclaimers. FingerWag is useful when those patterns matter more than the individual sending number.

When a political filter is the right tool

A filter is most useful after you notice a pattern. If one known sender keeps texting, block or opt out. If a suspicious link appears, report or delete it. If the same political script keeps arriving from new unknown numbers, content-based filtering is the right layer.

How to choose useful rules

Good filtering rules are specific enough to catch the messages you dislike without hiding texts you may want. A broad rule like election may be too blunt. A rule that combines a PAC name, candidate name, fundraising phrase, or disclosure line is usually more useful.

• donate now
• rush a donation
• triple match
• voter survey
• paid for by
• text STOP
• early voting
• PAC names

How to enable the filter

Install FingerWag, then enable it in iPhone message filtering. On newer iOS versions, open Messages, tap Filters, choose Manage Filtering, open Text Message Filter, and select FingerWag.

What a filter cannot do

• It cannot legally remove you from every campaign list.
• It cannot guarantee every political text will be caught.
• It cannot decide whether a political claim is true.
• It cannot filter normal conversations from known contacts.