Iowa authorities confirmed Friday that recorded phone calls citing the slaying of an Iowa college student are being used to promote white supremacist views, but said there’s little they can do despite an outcry from Hispanics and other groups.

Prosecutors have no authority to step in because there’s no apparent effort to deceive anyone for commercial purposes, said Lynn Hicks, a spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office.

Hicks said Iowa law addressing robocalls, or autodialing, bars using the equipment for fraudulent purposes, ‘‘but there are all kinds of exceptions for noncommercial purposes and for nonprofit organizations.’’