DIRTY TACTICS

Mystery Sender of Deceitful Kansas Abortion Text Is Booted From Messaging Platform

The anonymous message encouraged Kansans to vote “yes” on a referendum in order to protect abortion rights, even though a “yes” vote would do the opposite.

The anonymous person behind a deceitful text message sent to Kansans ahead of Tuesday’s vote on the constitutional right to abortion was suspended from the messaging platform on Monday. In the message, voters were encouraged to vote “yes” on the ballot question about whether to remove the right to abortion from the state constitution, saying that doing so “will give women a choice.” In reality, a “yes” vote would, according to the ballot’s language, mean that there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion. Twilio, which develops communications apps used by many political campaigns, found that the message violated its rules against the “spread of disinformation,” the Kansas City Star reported. Kansas’ leading anti-abortion groups and the state’s Republican party have all denied being responsible for the message.