Does the TCPA apply to text messages?
Yes. A text message is a call for TCPA purposes. The same consent rules apply, and the same $500 per message, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing, under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3).
Yes. The TCPA speaks of calls, and the FCC ruled in 2003 that a text message to a cell phone is a call for the statute's purposes. Courts have followed that reading since, and the Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, which narrowed what counts as an autodialer, was itself a text-message case. So every rule that applies to a marketing call applies to a marketing text: the consent requirements, the National Do Not Call Registry, calling hours, identification, and the $500 to $1,500 per violation in 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) and § 227(c)(5).
Which rule a text falls under
Two rules matter. Section 227(b) prohibits using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to call a cell phone without consent, and after Duguid the autodialer question turns on whether the system uses a random or sequential number generator. Section 227(c) and the FCC rule at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c) prohibit telephone solicitations to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry regardless of the technology. A marketing text to a registered number is exposed under § 227(c) whatever platform sent it.
Why text claims are common
Platforms log every message, recipients screenshot them, and a STOP reply followed by more messages is the clearest knowing violation in the statute. Add the Florida act, which treats texts as telephonic sales calls and carries its own $500 to $1,500 per message once a STOP has been ignored for fifteen days, and a text campaign to a purchased list is the most common source of the letters this site is about. See damages per text and how fast to honour a STOP.
People also ask
Do texts need written consent?
Marketing texts sent with an automated system to a cell phone need prior express written consent under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2). Informational texts need prior express consent, which can be the person giving you the number for that purpose.
What about texts sent one at a time from a phone?
Whether a given platform is an autodialer after Facebook v. Duguid (2021) is contested. The Do Not Call rule in § 227(c) does not depend on the dialing technology, and state laws such as Florida’s have their own definitions.
Is a text with an opt-out line safe?
An opt-out line is required good practice, not consent. The first message still needs consent, and every message after a STOP is a knowing violation.