Privacy concerns over Yes campaign vote’s bulk SMS
The bulk SMS sent in favour of same-sex marriage has sparked calls for changes to privacy regulations, after hundreds of thousands of Australians were bombarded with text messages without their permission. Coalition MPs who support traditional marriage yesterday questioned whether the Yes campaign had complied with political authorisation requirements and complained that messages had been sent to minors without parents’ consent. The tactic also triggered calls to reform the rules governing mass communication with experts suggesting the messages could have cost as little as 2c each, with the Yes camp unable to confirm how many were actually sent. Federal minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells told The Australian the decision to send mass text messages would “not have been a cheap exercise” and that it “just goes to show how cashed up the Yes campaign is”. “There is a legitimate question about the authorisation,” she said. “In terms of sending it to minors...