Anti-EU campaigners fined for breaking law over referendum campaign

A firm which sent more than 500,000 text messages urging people to back its Brexit campaign has been fined by a watchdog.

Better for the Country Ltd, best known for campaigning under the name Leave.EU, broke the law by not having consent of the people it sent text messages to, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.

The firm, which obtained the list of phone numbers from a third party supplier, was fined £50,000 for the breach.

Many of those who were sent texts by Better for the Country Ltd had consented to receiving messages about areas including leisure, home improvements and insurance but there was no specification about EU politics, the watchdog said. [ITV]

And there’s more rule breaking going on: 11 anti-EU campaign groups struck off for breaking referendum rules.

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