What Are the FCC Regulations on Text Messages?

Under FCC regulations on text messages, businesses generally cannot send automated texts to your cell phone without your permission, they must stop when you tell them to, and they owe you between $500 and $1,500 for every illegal text if you sue. The agency treats texts as “calls” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so SMS and MMS get the same protections as robocalls.1Federal Communications Commission. Targeting and Eliminating Unlawful Text Messages Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

When a Business Needs Your Permission to Text You

The TCPA, at 47 U.S.C. 227, prohibits texts sent to wireless numbers using an automatic telephone dialing system unless the sender has your prior express consent. An autodialer is equipment that can store or generate phone numbers and send messages without a person pressing the button for each one.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment

What counts as “consent” depends on what the text is trying to do.

Marketing Texts

Any text promoting a product, service, or investment requires prior express written consent. That means a written agreement, signed by you on paper or electronically, that identifies the specific seller you’re authorizing to send you marketing messages by autodialer or prerecorded voice. The agreement has to state clearly that signing is not a condition of buying anything.3eCFR. 47 CFR 64.1200 – Delivery Restrictions

Consent also has to match the context. If you signed up on a car-shopping website for auto insurance texts, that seller cannot use the same permission to send you vacation offers. The messages must be logically and topically related to the interaction where you gave permission.4Federal Register. Targeting and Eliminating Unlawful Text Messages, Implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

Informational Texts

Non-marketing texts like appointment reminders, shipping notifications, and account alerts need only “prior express consent,” a lower bar. You usually provide it just by giving your phone number to a business during a transaction, on the understanding that the number may be used for closely related informational messages.5Federal Communications Commission. One-to-One Consent Rule for TCPA Prior Express Written Consent Frequently Asked Questions

The moment any promotional content slips into that message, though, it becomes a marketing text and the full written-consent requirement kicks in.

The One-to-One Consent Rule

Since January 27, 2025, the FCC requires “one-to-one” consent for marketing texts. Your written permission can authorize only a single, identified seller. A company can no longer collect your consent once on a lead-generation site and share it with a network of advertisers who then all text you. The change brings the FCC’s rules in line with the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, which already demanded consent per seller.5Federal Communications Commission. One-to-One Consent Rule for TCPA Prior Express Written Consent Frequently Asked Questions

If you get a marketing text from a company you don’t recognize and can’t remember signing up with, that’s a sign the sender may be relying on shared consent that no longer holds up.

How to Make Texts Stop

You can revoke consent at any time, and the sender has to honor it. The FCC has recognized that replying with any of these words automatically counts as a valid opt-out: stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel, or unsubscribe.6Federal Communications Commission. Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Those aren’t the only ways. Any reasonable method counts, including calling the company, sending an email, or telling a representative during a live conversation. A business cannot force you into a single opt-out channel and ignore your request in every other form.7Federal Register. Strengthening the Ability of Consumers To Stop Robocalls

Once you revoke consent, the sender must stop within a reasonable time, which the FCC has defined as no more than ten business days.7Federal Register. Strengthening the Ability of Consumers To Stop Robocalls Any text that arrives after that window is a violation, and it’s worth saving the date you opted out and screenshots of anything that comes after.

Other Behaviors That Are Illegal Even With Consent

Consent isn’t a blank check. A few practices are restricted regardless of whether the sender has your permission.

Time of Day

Telemarketing texts to wireless numbers cannot be sent before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time zone. The rule was written for phone solicitations, and the FCC has confirmed it applies to marketing texts as well.3eCFR. 47 CFR 64.1200 – Delivery Restrictions

Spoofed Sender Information

The Truth in Caller ID Act originally banned only spoofed voice calls, but the RAY BAUM’S Act extended that ban to texts. It is illegal to send a text with misleading or inaccurate caller information when the intent is to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain something of value.8Federal Communications Commission. FCC Bans Malicious Caller ID Spoofing of Text Messages and Foreign Robocalls

The Do Not Call Registry

The National Do Not Call Registry, maintained at donotcall.gov, restricts telemarketing contact to numbers on the list.9Federal Communications Commission. Do Not Call Senders cannot deliver marketing texts to a registered number unless they’ve obtained prior express written consent from you specifically. Registration is free at donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the number you want to register.10Federal Communications Commission. Stop Illegal Robocalls and Texts

Texts That Don’t Need Your Consent

A few categories fall outside the TCPA’s consent requirement:

  • Emergency messages about immediate threats to health or safety, such as weather warnings and public safety alerts. The FCC reads this narrowly. A message has to be genuinely time-sensitive and tied to an imminent risk. Debt collection texts, even about medical debt, do not qualify.6Federal Communications Commission. Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
  • Non-commercial texts sent by or on behalf of government agencies, but only when the content is purely informational. A city notifying you of a road closure or a public health agency sending vaccine availability updates would qualify. Once a government-related message becomes promotional, it loses the exemption.
  • Political texts sent one-by-one by a real person, sometimes called peer-to-peer texting. Only autodialed political messages need prior express consent, which is why campaigns invest in human-operated platforms. Even so, you can tell any campaign to stop, and they have to honor the request.11Federal Communications Commission. Political Campaign Robocalls and Robotexts Rules

Political campaigns don’t get a free pass just because their message is political rather than commercial. An autodialed political text to a cell phone needs the same consent as any other automated text.11Federal Communications Commission. Political Campaign Robocalls and Robotexts Rules

What You Can Collect If Someone Breaks the Rules

The TCPA gives you a private right of action. You can sue a sender yourself, without needing a government agency to bring the case. You can file in state court and seek either your actual financial losses or $500 per illegal text, whichever is greater. If the court finds the violation was willful or knowing, the judge can triple the award up to $1,500 per text.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment

Those numbers add up fast. A company that sends 50 unauthorized marketing texts could face $25,000 to $75,000 in exposure from a single consumer. Smaller volumes of texts can often be pursued in small claims court, though jurisdictional rules vary.

The sender carries the burden of proving it had valid consent. If you deny giving permission and the company cannot produce a signed agreement, the company loses. Save the texts, note the dates and times, and hold onto any opt-out replies you sent.

Reporting Illegal Texts

You have several reporting options, and they can be used alongside a private lawsuit rather than instead of one.

The FCC focuses on telecommunications violations and the FTC handles broader consumer fraud, so filing with both casts a wider net without giving up your right to sue for damages yourself.