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The iPhone update in September is raising alarms from Republicans who say it will disproportionately block conservative fundraising and voter promotion efforts, echoing the big tech controversy in the past against Republican voters.
“It’s no surprise that big tech companies want to stop Donald Trump and other Republicans from communicating with people because they’ve tried every other way to intervene.” Sean Dollman, founding partner of American Made Media Company, the parent company of Launch Platform Strategy, is the parent company of Trunch Partergies, the exclusive digital company for Trump in 2024, told Fox News Digital.
“Big Tech has suppressed him, paused him, and banned him altogether.
Apple is expected to launch its latest update, iOS 26, in September, which will include an updated text filtering system that will bring text messages from unknown numbers that have no history of chat with the recipient to a separate message folder that will not alert the recipient, the leader of the US-made media company and explain the upcoming update to the upcoming update Fox News Digital Paintingpad. SMS messages with known numbers saved from personal phones are expected to continue reminding recipients and sending messages to their typical text app.
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The upcoming iPhone update is a boost to alerts at a Republican fundraiser, who said a new text filtering system designed to put the market will disproportionately block outreach efforts by conservative voters. (Paul Weaver/sopa image/lightrocket via Getty image)
According to its website, during Trump's decisive victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris, Launchpad Strategy served as the exclusive digital company for Trump's 2024 campaign, handling online advertising and consulting firms, and continues to serve as a “full-service Republican digital agency dedicated to helping the campaign win.”
Fox Digital learned that in 2024, the launch pad raised $509 million for the Trump campaign and also raised $18 million from 40 other clients during the 2024 election.
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According to the fundraisers, the update could impact the election cycle itself, as text messages about voter registrations and campaign rally are expected to name it the new folder.
Data from the 2024 election cycle show that Republicans have two-to-one-on-one leverage text movements compared to Democrats, when the expected update takes effect in September, they directly plunged them into a fire – as Democrats hope to flip the House and Senate from Republican control, before the mid-term fever.
The scope of text filtering is expected to go far beyond the political spectrum, including texts that may involve issues related to real-life issues, such as doctor dates in numbers saved from a person’s phone.
According to Punchbowl News at the time, the National Republican Senate Committee, the Senate Republican campaign unit, issued an internal memorandum in July, which raised an alarm that the iOS update could cost Republicans more than $25 million in revenue.
Apple filtering text from unknown numbers is nothing new, and such programs are already used in current iOS 18 systems. When the user switches a button in the Settings application, the current filtering system is not activated by default.
The Media Express reported in July that the iOS 26 update can also provide beta testing to the public.
Under the new update, the filtering system will be renamed to “Screen Unknown Sender”, but will use persistent conditions to kick text messages to another folder, especially: if the iPhone owner does not have a contact saved in the phone, and if the user has never interacted with an unknown phone number, according to Fast Company.
The visibility of texts from unknown senders will get a facelift under the new update, with the filtered messages from unknown senders made more easily seen by users with a new filtering button at the top of Apple's Messages app that will display a blue badge noting how many unread texts an iPhone user has received from unknown numbers, according to the Fast Company report, which sought to quell Republican fundraising concerns over the update.
Former President Donald Trump spoke at a campaign rally in Kingston, North Carolina on Sunday, November 3. (Julia DeMaree Nikhinson/AP)
Fox News Digital commented with Apple on Monday.
The history of Republican fundraisers is the most concerned history, pointing to a seemingly similar filtering system that first hit the public’s radar in 2022. Research at the time found that Gmail allowed the vast majority of emails of left-wing politicians to log in to users’ inboxes, rather than certainly from data from conservative candidates, which are data from the northern masses. Previously reported by Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reported in April 2022 that the Gmail filtering system caused $2 billion in losses to Republican candidates between 2019 and 2022, citing research from the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congress Committee and the National Republican Senate Committee.
“Big Tech has been silencing conservative voices and actively working against Republicans for multiple cycles. Google's e-mail suppression – which affects the GOP's fundraising and GOTV efforts – is another egregious example. Silicon Valley oligarchs are suppressing free political speech,” then-RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, then-NRSC Chairman Senator Rick Scott and then-NRCC Chairman Congressman Tom Emmer said in a joint Back in 2022, Fox News Digital reported at the time.
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The study found that between 2019 and 2020, conservative candidates raised $737 million on Gmail’s Republican fundraising platform. The data found that in the 2020 election cycle alone, Republicans estimated they had estimated they missed $1.5 billion in donations, and only 32% of fundraising emails have actually covered recipients.
Woman type on her Apple iPhone. (cyberguy.com)
The update comes as Democrats are in turmoil after the 2024 game, with former President Joe Biden withdrawing from the election cycle, with more than 100 days left before passing the well-known mantle to Harris before losing Trump. After that, the party has tried to reject left-wing policies after a working class vote with the Republican Party in 2024, most notably voters surrounding social issues.
Republican fundraising campaigns are already working on solutions for expected updates, including having recipients add fundraising numbers to their phones.
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Screenshots of the fundraising text reviewed by Fox News Digital in 2025 show text touting Trump’s name with a message asking recipients to add numbers to their contacts or respond to text to build a chat history.
The text includes messages like “Trump: Do you save my phone number?” or “Download Trump Contact Card to Add Me to Your Address Book” or other interactive texts like “Trump: If you had 5 minutes, what would you say? No link. I just want your reply below.”