Court Rules TCPA DNC Provisions Apply To Text Messages

Courts are now sharply divided on whether the TCPA’s national Do‑Not‑Call (DNC) provisions apply to text messages; some decisions hold they do, while a fast‑growing line of cases post‑Loper Bright holds they do not, treating “telephone call” as excluding SMS.

Core holding you’re asking about

The headline you quoted tracks Reimer v. Kohl’s, Inc. (E.D. Wis. 2023), where the court held that the TCPA’s DNC provisions apply to marketing text messages and denied Kohl’s motion to dismiss DNC claims based on promotional SMS. The court read “call” broadly enough to encompass text messages and treated the FCC’s then‑pending NPRM on applying DNC rules to texts as a clarification of existing law rather than proof that texts were previously uncovered.

Current split after Loper Bright / McLaughlin

Post‑Loper Bright and McLaughlin, multiple district courts are re‑reading the statute’s use of “telephone call” in 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5) without Chevron deference and concluding the DNC private right of action does not reach texts. Recent examples include:

• N.D. Fla. in Davis v. CVS Pharm., Inc. (2025): held “a text message is not a ‘telephone call’” for DNC claims and dismissed claims based on texts to DNC‑registered numbers.

• N.D. Ohio in Stockdale v. Skymount Prop. Grp., LLC (2026): similarly held text messages are not within § 227(c)(5), emphasizing contemporaneous ordinary meaning of “telephone call” at enactment.

• N.D. Ga. in Radvansky v. 1‑800‑Flowers.com (2026): concluded TCPA’s DNC private right of action does not extend to text messages, stressing Congress’s separate use of “text message” elsewhere in the statute.

By contrast, some courts (like Reimer) and at least one Ninth Circuit decision have continued to treat texts as “calls” under the TCPA, though the Ninth Circuit case you’re seeing addressed TCPA “call” more generally rather than squarely deciding § 227(c)(5) DNC issues.

Practical compliance implications

For plaintiffs, DNC‑based SMS theories are now much more venue‑sensitive: some courts allow DNC text claims to proceed, while others dismiss them at the pleadings stage on pure statutory‑interpretation grounds. For defendants, the emerging defense playbook is to invoke Loper Bright / McLaughlin, argue that “telephone call” in § 227(c)(5) excludes texts based on 1991 ordinary meaning, and distinguish FCC pronouncements as non‑binding.