Apple iOS Update Expected to Hit Republican Fundraising Ahead Midterms

Republican fundraisers and digital strategists linked to President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign are raising concerns that Apple's upcoming iOS 26 update, which includes a new text filtration system, will disproportionately hinder GOP outreach and fundraising efforts ahead of the midterm elections. The update will redirect text messages from unknown numbers without prior chat history into a separate folder without alerts, potentially blocking critical voter registration reminders and rally notifications that Republicans rely on more heavily than Democrats. Sean Dollman, founding partner of American Made Media Company, which served as the exclusive digital firm for Trump's campaign, claims this is part of a continued effort by Big Tech to suppress Republican communication, following previous bans and suspensions. Data show that Republican campaigns leveraged text messaging at twice the rate of Democrats in the 2024 election cycle, making them particularly vulnerable to such changes. This concern echoes previous issues with Gmail spam filters reportedly costing GOP candidates nearly $2 billion in email donations from 2019 to 2022. With Democrats aiming to retake Congress, these technological changes could significantly impact the political landscape in the crucial months leading to the midterms.