Opn Sesame is an American company that provides
peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
political
text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktops/laptops, or ...
to conservative platforms.
It was created by Gary Coby, and Gerrit Lansing (technologist), Gerrit Lansing. Coby was a director of advertising at the Republican National Committee and attached to Project Alamo. Lansing was formerly the chief digital officer of the Republican National Committee and of the White House.
Other political P2P texting platforms include Hustle (company), Hustle and GetThru on the Democratic side and RumbleUp on the Republican side.
During the 2020 presidential election, campaigns reduced their use of door to door canvassing due to the coronavirus pandemic, and online political advertising on social media platforms became more restricted. Thus, political text messaging became more valuable.
On November 5 2020 Opn Sesame "...sent out thousands of targeted, anonymous text messages urging supporters to rally where votes were being counted in Philadelphia... falsely claiming Democrats were trying to steal the presidential election. The messages directed Trump fans to converge at a downtown intersection where hundreds of protesters from the opposing candidates’ camps faced off... A top Trump campaign official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the message did not come from the campaign. Because Opn Sesame is used by multiple customers, none of whom the company would identify, it could not be determined exactly who sent the message. Coby declined to comment."
"After being notified, Twilio shut down the numbers, saying in a statement that the texts “were sent without consumer opt-out language, which is in direct contravention of our policies.” A company spokesman declined further comment."
["Incendiary texts traced to outfit run by top Trump aid]
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References
External links
* {{official, https://opnsesame.com/
Text messaging