The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits certain types of “calls,” including telemarketing calls, to numbers listed on the national Do Not Call Registry. (This obligation lives at 47 USC § 227(c)(5).) The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and, until recently, nearly all courts following the FCC have interpreted “calls” to include text messages. However, following recent U.S. Supreme Court authority limiting the power of regulatory agencies to expand the scope of laws enacted by Congress, the Seventh Circuit in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, and as reported in our sister blog, has ruled that “text” messages are not calls within the meaning the DNC Regulations. As such, the court ruled, plaintiffs cannot rely on violations of DNC requirements to bring private suits for texts sent in alleged violation of that provision.
In this case, the plaintiffs received marketing texts from Blackstone even after replying STOP and adding themselves to the DNC registry. They alleged violations of both TCPA, specifically the DNC provision. They also filed suit alleging violations of Florida’s telemarketing law. The court agreed with defendants that the DNC provisions of the claim should be dismissed.
In reaching its conclusion, the court declined to rely on the FCC interpretation that National Do Not Call Registry protections applied to text messages. Citing the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates, Inc. v. McKesson Corp., the court noted that it did not need to give deference to the FCC’s interpretation. Instead, it looked at the ordinary public meaning of the term 'telephone call' at the time the law was enacted, turning to contemporaneous dictionary definitions for guidance. According to the court, when the law was enacted, a “telephone call” involved “an instrument for reproducing sounds at a distance.” Because text messages do not reproduce sounds, the court held they do not qualify as a “telephone call.” The court notes the first text was not sent until a year after the law took effect.
Putting It Into Practice: Most other U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, including the 9th Circuit, still hold that “calls” include text messages under the TCPA. There is now a split of authority, which may ultimately be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the safest course of action is to continue to treat text messages as covered by the TCPA. For example, it would be risky for companies to stop providing opt-out messages to texts or to stop honoring such requests.