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FCC’s proposed robotext crackdown could block legal messages, critics say

The Federal Communications Commission says it is giving cellular carriers added authority to block text messages, saying the action is needed to protect consumers from spam or robotexts. But critics of the plan note that carriers are already allowed to block robotexts and worry that the change will make it easy for carriers to censor political texts or block certain kinds of messages in order to extract more revenue from senders.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's announcement acknowledges that carriers are already allowed to block illegal robotexts. Pai did not promise new consumer-friendly blocking services; instead, he said his plan "allow[s] carriers to continue using robotext-blocking and anti-spoofing measures to protect consumers from unwanted text messages" (emphasis ours).

Despite that, Pai is proposing to classify text messaging as an information service, rather than a telecommunications service. That's the same legal classification that Pai gave to home and mobile broadband services as part of a December 2017 vote to deregulate the industry and eliminate net neutrality rules. The FCC has not previously ruled on whether text messaging is an information service or a telecommunications service.

An FCC vote on Pai's plan is scheduled for December 12.

[...] Public Knowledge yesterday called Pai's plan "a great big gift basket to corporate special interests at the expense of American consumers."

[...] Pai argued in a blog post that changing text messaging from its current un-classified status to a Title II telecommunication service "would dramatically curb the ability of wireless providers to use robotext-blocking, anti-spoofing, and other anti-spam features." Rejecting Title II and settling on the information service classification for text messaging would "remove regulatory uncertainty, and empower providers to continue finding innovative ways to protect consumers from unwanted text messages," Pai wrote.

[...] Pai's information service proposal was accompanied by another measure designed to reduce robocalls. Pai is proposing a "reassigned number database... [that] would help legitimate callers know whether telephone numbers have been reassigned to somebody else before calling those numbers," he wrote.

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