Text service says it shut down accounts allegedly behind racist messages [View all]
Source: ABC News
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. "As part of our investigation into these messages, we learned they have been sent through multiple carriers across the US and we are working with partners and law enforcement cooperatively to investigate this attack," the representative said in a statement.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/text-service-shut-accounts-allegedly-racist-texts/story?id=115619141