If you live in South Africa and have an active email address, you have noticed a distinct increase in the number of emails you receive from political parties.
This is happening as a result of the 2026 Local Government Elections taking place on 4th November, and as we get closer to that date, we could see a lot more emails from said political parties landing in our inboxes.
This is based on a report from The New York Times, which has discovered that political parties are able to circumvent the usual spam filters that exist within Gmail.
A new Gmail Verified Sender Program is being rolled out in order to allow this to happen, but for right now it is limited to political parties in the United States, with applications to be a part of the program rolling out on 8th September.
While it is limited to the US for now, there is no reason as to why this could not be made available in South Africa too, especially as PoPIA has shown little to no teeth to date.
“Starting September 8, 2026, the Gmail Verified Sender Program helps eligible, verified political committees in the United States, reliably deliver policy-compliant and non-abusive messages to personal Gmail accounts. By adhering to these requirements, participating senders actively contribute to a safer, more trustworthy email ecosystem, enhancing security and delivery experience for all recipients,” explained Google in a support page.
The only respite that the Program offers is the fact that restrictions are in place when it comes to frequency with which political parties can send out emails. Here, Google confirmed that those that are approved for the Program must, “keep your spam rate below 0.3%. If users mark more than 0.3% of your emails as spam over a 14-day average.”
How well this would be enforced, remains to be seen, but Engadget noted that this move may be happening in efforts to appease the Republican part Stateside, which has previously criticised Google for allegedly censoring its emails to potential voters.
“This program is designed to connect people with the emails they want to receive while keeping them fully in control of their inboxes. To participate, bulk senders must meet strict security and compliance requirements, ensuring that messages people receive are relevant, useful and verified,” Google told The New York Times in a statement.
Hopefully this is a tool that is limited to the United States alone, as any rollout in South Africa would certainly be exploited by local political parties or organisations adjacent to the political arena.
[Image – Photo by Alex Shuper on Unsplash]
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