Consent gets a political text the right to be sent; content decides whether it actually lands. Carriers filter on what a message says, not just who it's going to, and a message that trips a content rule gets blocked no matter how clean the opt-in behind it. Here's what campaigns can't say and how to keep a message from getting filtered.
What content gets political texts filtered?
Carriers and industry guidelines screen for categories they treat as high-risk. The recurring offenders:
- Prohibited-category words the carriers flag regardless of context, tied to certain restricted topics.
- Deceptive or misleading claims, spoofed identities, fake urgency, anything that looks like a scam.
- Public URL shorteners. Shared shortener domains get abused by spammers, so links through them draw filtering. Use a dedicated, branded short domain instead.
- Excessive symbols and formatting that reads like spam, all caps, walls of emojis, odd punctuation.
- Unclear sender. A message that doesn't identify the campaign looks like a spoof and gets treated like one.
How do you keep a message compliant?
Write like a legitimate campaign, because that's what the filters are trying to confirm you are. Identify the campaign clearly, keep claims truthful, use your own branded link domain rather than a public shortener, and skip the spammy formatting. A clean, plainly-written message from an identified sender is exactly the profile that lands, and it's also just a better message.
Why does content filtering matter as much as consent?
Because both can silently kill a send. You can have perfect consent and full 10DLC registration and still get filtered on content, and the carriers won't tell you. Your reply numbers just drop. Content is the third leg alongside consent and registration, and a program that nails two but ignores the third still ends up with messages nobody sees.
Frequently asked questions
What words are banned in political texts?
Carriers flag certain restricted-category terms and anything deceptive, but the bigger risks are unclear sender identity and public URL shorteners. Write plainly, identify the campaign, and use a branded link.
Why do political texts get blocked even with consent?
Because carriers filter on content too. A message can have clean consent and still get filtered for spammy formatting, a shared shortener link, or an unclear sender.
Can you use link shorteners in political texts?
Use a dedicated, branded short domain, not a public shortener. Shared shortener domains get abused by spammers, so they draw filtering.
Keep reading: what 10DLC means for your campaign and do campaigns need consent to text voters?. For carrier guidelines, see The Campaign Registry.
This is general information, not legal advice, current as of the date above.