Election spam that drives everyone crazy: do parties have the right to bother us?

With the Knesset elections approaching on October 27, Israelis are complaining about a flood of political advertising. Ynet explains that parties have exempted their campaigning from the anti-spam law, so filing a lawsuit just for receiving an SMS with campaign material is not possible. However, there are exceptions: anonymous messages, calls at night, or those containing threats can be grounds for a complaint to the Central Elections Committee. Lawyers note that the right to demand removal from a mailing list is not enshrined in law, but in some cases courts have expressed displeasure at ignoring such requests.

With the Knesset elections for the 26th term approaching, scheduled for October 27, Israelis are increasingly complaining about a flood of political advertising: SMS, voice messages, phone calls, and digital campaigning. On October 6, Ynet published an analysis of the legal aspects of this issue. The key finding: lawmakers have exempted 'the distribution of political messages, including election campaigning' from the anti-spam law (Section 30a of the Communications Law). This was confirmed by the Supreme Court in the case of Glasberg v. the Labor Party. However, there are exceptions. Anonymous messages, calls at night or at high frequency, and those containing threatening elements (sounds of sirens, gunfire) can be grounds for a complaint to the Central Elections Committee. The Committee has the authority to oblige communications providers to disclose the identity of the sender and impose fines. A citizen's right to demand removal from a party's mailing list is not clearly established, but in one Supreme Court ruling, displeasure was expressed at the ignoring of such requests. The 'Do Not Call' registry does not apply to political campaigning. The article is explanatory in nature and contains no signs of propaganda or clickbait.