The robocall wars continue

And our A.I. task force

A few weeks ago, I called the Republican attorney general for Utah, Derek Brown.

I asked if he would join me in leading a bipartisan, AG-led task force on A.I. abuse.

He was great. Agreed fast.

Then we sent out word to other AGs, and they’re joining fast, too.

Here’s the idea:

A.I. will be used for good - and bad.

When it comes to the bad stuff, my prediction is that Congress is going to do very little, as we saw with social media and internet privacy. Almost nothing from them, after all these years.

Meanwhile, we’re already seeing A.I. used by criminals to target kids, seniors, and the rest of us. Attorneys general make sense as a response group because our core job is keeping people safe.

This kind of effort could easily get pulled in a dozen directions, so we’re staying focused. The plan is to set clear priorities around the most egregious abuses and then band together to do something practical and helpful.

That’s the rough plan. I’ve got ideas for where we should start, and I’ll report back soon.

The Robocall Wars - Phase 1 Complete

Three months ago, I told you I was getting more aggressive on robocalls.

Specifically, I said I was going after the middleman companies that pass these calls along even when they know they’re illegal and should be blocked.

So I publicly posted the names of 37 of these telecom companies and sent each of them a letter.

I gave them three weeks to comply with the law.

If they chose not to, they could end up like one company - Articul8 - which ignored us when we told them to stop patching through illegal robocalls. We drove it out of business and hit it with a $5 million fine.

Then I posted this video directly calling out those 37 companies, letting them know what the consequences would be if they looked the other way. It got over a million views - presumably including the CEOs of those companies.

Our effort worked.

The vast majority of those companies are now blocking robocalls. Most of the ones that refused have been removed from the federal database, which means all of their traffic is now being blocked.

That brings us to the end of Phase 1.

Phase 2 has just begun, and it involves going upstream to some of the largest telecom companies in the country. We’ve been laying the groundwork for this for months. I’ll be able to share more in a few weeks.

As I have told these companies, when it comes to fighting robocalls, voters have given me more than a mandate - they’ve given me a commandment.

I did a telephone town hall with AARP last week. When it was time to take questions, 90% of them were about the nonstop robocalls hitting our seniors. There is precisely zero sympathy for companies that are part of the problem.

I am not messing around on this. These robocall companies can get right or they can get torched. Up to them.

Points for Honesty

Owen, our 10-year-old, is a very normal kid in that he uses his iPad a lot to play games with his friends.

But last week I decided it was time to set some daily limits. I used the parental controls, and he and I even agreed together on the amount of time.

Two days later, he came to me, staring at his feet.

“Uh, Dad, you have to change the password for the parental controls. I know it and, um, I know that I’ll totally use it to give myself more time… so you gotta change it.”

I thought that was awesome. So I gave him a hug, told him I was really impressed, added ten minutes to his allowed time - and changed the password.

Our Lighthouse Fund

One quick behind-the-scenes note.

Our Lighthouse Fund exists for one purpose: to make sure updates like our robocall video actually reach independent voters. Unless we pay to put these updates in front of people, they could go years without hearing from me at all. As you know, lots of folks don’t follow political accounts or read newsletters like this - but they do scroll.

That’s how we stay on their radar in a steady, credible way - not by showing up out of nowhere during campaign season, but by keeping people posted as the work happens. It’s not expensive, but it’s not free.

If you believe in that approach, I hope you’ll consider supporting our Lighthouse Fund either here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Best,

Jeff

P.S. - Avery came to drill with me for our annual family day. She did great, and yes, she wore her own uniform. She carried a plastic knife on her hip, but fortunately it wasn’t needed. A fun day for both of us.

Jeff Jackson is a member of the NC Army National Guard. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Army or the DoD.