If you're on Twitter seeing ads that encourage you to vote early by texting a candidate's name to a number, don't fall for it.
The Washington Post reported that fake ads on Twitter are to blame for tricking users into thinking they can vote by text.
The Post said that ads that have imagery from the Clinton campaign, including Clinton's likeness and campaign logo.
Some included an image of an African American woman and another, completely in Spanish, had an image of a Latina woman, with many appearing to come from the since-suspended Twitter user @TheRickyVaughn, according to The Post.
Those ads, The Post said, seemed to target minority voters.
Loyola University Chicago associate professor of physics Robert McNess was among the first on Twitter to report the user and the fake ads. According to McNess, he received word from Twitter that the tweets did not violate the site's terms of service.
Twitter just informed me that attempting to disenfranchise voters is not a violation of their Terms of Service. @jack @Support pic.twitter.com/YXVdt8sHwA
— Robert McNees the Baste God (@mcnees) November 2, 2016
The Post reported that the tweets were later removed and some accounts spreading the fake ads had been suspended.
Twitter CEO Jack Forsey said in a reply to McNess that he was "not sure how this got past us," but that it had been "fixed."
not sure how this got past us. Fixed (and thanks for reporting)
— jack 🌍🌏🌎 (@jack) November 2, 2016
Anyone who does text "Hillary" to 59925, according to Mashable and BuzzFeed News, will get this message:
"The ad you saw was not approved by iVisionMobile OR Hillary For America in any way. To opt-in to the real HFA list, text HFA to 47246. Reply STOP to cancel."
Cox Media Group
