Another Court Holds SMS Messages ARE Subject To TCPA DNC Rules

A third court has come out with a decision holding SMS messages ARE subject to the TCPA’s DNC rules post McKesson, and it looks like an ongoing split of authority is to be assured.

Backing up, the TCPA’s DNC rules prevent “calls” to numbers on the national DNCR without permission or an EBR.

Prior to this year courts routinely held “calls” included text messages because the FCC said so. But the current Supreme Court has thrown out the rule that district courts must obey the FCC– so they are free to decide the issue anew.

We have already seen a near-farcical split on the issue with two courts issuing competing decisions on the matter on the same day. 

Since then the Chief Judge of the N.D.Fl. has issued an opinion concurring that SMS messages are not subject to the DNC rules while a split developed in Florida and we have been waiting for more data points.

Here’s the latest.

In Wilson v. Medvidi, Inc. 2025 WL 2856295 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 7, 2025) the court held SMS messages ARE “calls” for purposes of the TCPA’s DNC rules:

In short, nothing in the text, structure, or purpose of the TCPA suggests the distinction between written and oral communications that Defendant urges the Court to adopt. The Court concludes that a “telephone call” as used in 47 U.S.C. § 227(c) encompasses the types of text messages Plaintiff complains of.

Notably the court referred to Defendant’s argument as “tortured reasoning”:

According to Defendant, “by limiting this definition and intent to regulate text messages outlined in Section 64.1200(a), the FCC clearly indicated that, unless otherwise specified, a ‘call’ does not include a ‘text message’ or ‘SMS message.’ ” Mot. at 8. This tortured reasoning provides no basis to depart from the plain meaning of the statutory text as it has been understood by consumers, the FCC, and courts since the TCPA’s passage.

Eesh.

So one court says:

“[N]o ordinary person would think of a text message as a “telephone call.””

Another says:

“No basis to depart from the plain meaning of the statutory text as it has been understood by consumers, the FCC, and courts since the TCPA’s passage.”

Right.

This is what happens when you let courts make stuff up as they go along instead of having a reliable nationwide rule from the FCC.