Speculation that President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee are petitioning cellphone carriers to monitor and edit private text messages is false, DNC and White House officials tell the Washington Examiner.

Still, political operatives from both parties have made a practice of monitoring mass text blasts from the other side in recent years as SMS marketing has exploded as a tool for political campaigns, fundraising groups, and even private sector businesses.

The notion of new Democratic-backed SMS surveillance popped up in conservative circles after Politico published an article Monday that included a line that the DNC and other Biden-allied groups were "planning to engage fact-checkers more aggressively and work with SMS carriers to dispel misinformation about vaccines that is sent over social media and text messages."

"The goal is to ensure that people who may have difficulty getting a vaccination because of issues like transportation see those barriers lessened or removed entirely," the article read.