Text messages under the TCPA

A text is a call

Section 227(b)(1)(A) speaks of "any call" to a cellular number. In its 2003 order the FCC stated that the prohibition encompasses both voice calls and text calls, including SMS, to wireless numbers. In Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., 569 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. 2009), the court applied that reading to a promotional text and held that a text message is a "call" within the statute. Every court to consider the question since has agreed, and the Supreme Court decided Duguid, a case about text messages, without questioning it.

Which rules apply

Because a text goes to a mobile number, the relevant restriction is § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii): no call using an ATDS or an artificial or prerecorded voice without prior express consent. A text has no voice, so the question is whether the sending platform is an ATDS. After Duguid, a platform that sends to a stored list without a random or sequential number generator is generally not an ATDS under federal law, and many SMS marketing claims shifted to the do-not-call rules and to state statutes. A text to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry, if it is a telephone solicitation, falls under § 64.1200(c). A text sent after the recipient has asked for no more falls under the internal do-not-call rules and the revocation rules.

Consent for marketing texts

Where the platform is an ATDS, or where a state statute with a broader definition applies, a marketing text needs prior express written consent under § 64.1200(a)(2) and (f). The consent must be a signed written agreement, which may be electronic, that clearly authorises the specific seller to send marketing messages by automated means to the designated number, with a disclosure that consent is not a condition of purchase. The usual form is a checkbox or a keyword opt-in with the disclosure shown. The record the seller needs is per number: what the person saw, when, and from where. Informational texts, such as delivery notices or two-factor codes, need only prior express consent, which providing the number for that purpose supplies.

STOP and revocation

Consent may be revoked at any time by any reasonable means. The FCC's rules adopted in February 2024 and effective in April 2025 codify this and give examples: replying STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE, or using any other reasonable method, is a revocation that the sender must honour within ten business days. A sender may not designate an exclusive method of revocation and treat others as ineffective. Texts sent after a revocation are the clearest form of willful violation.

The confirmation text

A single text confirming that the recipient has opted out does not violate the TCPA, provided it is sent promptly, contains no marketing content, and is the last message. The FCC confirmed this in a 2012 declaratory ruling on a petition by SoundBite Communications, and the 2024 rules preserve it, with an allowance for a one-time request to clarify the scope of the opt-out where the person was receiving several categories of message.

Texts and the registry

The FCC has stated that the National Do Not Call Registry applies to text messages that are telephone solicitations. A marketing text to a registered number without an established business relationship or signed permission is therefore a registry violation, and more than one such text in a 12-month period supports a private action under § 227(c)(5) whether or not an ATDS was used. For many SMS campaigns this, rather than the autodialer prong, is now the controlling rule.

Florida and the 15-day notice

The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.059, applies to text messages and gives the recipient a private action for $500 per violation, trebled to $1,500 if willful. Since the 2023 amendment, a person who wants to sue over a text must first reply STOP and allow the sender 15 days to stop; a text sent after that window is actionable. The statute also restricts solicitations to 8am to 8pm local time and to three per 24-hour period on the same subject. Other state statutes, described in the state-law entry, also reach texts.

Carrier rules

Separately from the law, the wireless carriers and the CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices require consent and opt-out handling for application-to-person messaging, and the 10DLC registration system requires senders to register their campaigns and describe their consent process. These are contractual conditions of access to the network rather than law, but a campaign that fails them is usually also one that fails the TCPA.