The FCC has adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking allowing access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by enabling texting to 988, the three-digit code to reach the Lifeline. The FCC states that given the importance of text messaging to not only young people but also individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or have speech disabilities, the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes requiring text providers to support texting to 988. The Further Notice seeks comment on whether texting to 988 should be supported generally by text providers, types of text messages to be supported, a uniform nationwide implementation deadline, technical standards, and automatic bounce-back messages.
