With a Second Report and Order, Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Waiver Order, the FCC has adopted additional, stronger rules for robocalling and robotexting. The FCC has acted to close the “lead generator loophole,” clarifying that comparison shopping websites and lead generators have to obtain consumer consent to receive robocalls and robotexts one seller at a time.
The FCC’s new rules also allow for the FCC to “red flag” certain numbers, requiring mobile carriers to block texts coming from those numbers. The new rules also codify do-not-call rules for texting, making it illegal for marketing texts to be set to numbers on the Do-Not-Call registry.
The FCC is seeking comment on any additional steps it might take to stop robotexting. The FCC is also seeking further comment on text message authentication, which was modeled on STIR/SHAKEN protocols for phone calls, as well as comment on its proposal to require, rather than merely encourage, providers to make email-to-text services opt in.
