Texting “RBG” to 50409 Will Advocate Delay on Justice Vote
The Claim
If you text “RBG” to 50409, a service called “Resistbot” will draft an email to U.S. senators asking for them to delay a vote on a new Supreme Court justice.
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Emerging story
Following the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020, multiple social media posts said that texting “RBG” to the number 50409 would populate an email sent to U.S. senators asking them to delay a vote on confirming the next justice to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows that the claim is true. The service that the viral social media messages are referring to is for an automated service called “Resistbot,” which is an automated service run by a non-profit organization called “Resistbot Action Fund.” The Misbar team texted the service from Apple’s iMessage as well as using the standard SMS function of an android phone.
If new to the service, users will be asked to enter their mailing address along with their email for verification purposes. This will allow the service to determine the user’s specific congressional district and state. Once registered, the service adds the user’s signature to an online petition, which then generates an email that gets sent to the appropriate official, reading:
“I am sure that as a patriot, you are mourning the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I call on you now to commit to not confirming a new Supreme Court justice until after the inauguration, following the precedent set after the death of Justice Scalia four years ago. Allow the people to make this monumental decision as you did four years ago.”
Since the letter is for a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation, the email is sent to each user’s two U.S. senators.
