Last April, the Federal Communications Commission requested, in a Charge Letter, that its Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC), Chaired by ACI’s Steve Pociask, examine the problem of illegal and unwanted text messages (pertaining to CGB Docket 02-278) and submit its findings in a Report to the Commission by August 31, 2022. After months of work, the […]
text messaging
How to Report Unwanted Spam Texts
With spam text messages on the rise and scammers increasing utilizing them for elaborate schemes, consumers should know how to report them. Unwanted text messages have increased in recent years, but Americans don’t know there has been a simple-to-use service available to report messages. Most major carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, each allow consumers […]
Political Spam Is a Growing Problem in Text Messaging
Text messaging has become one of the most widely-used and trusted communication platforms in the U.S. with more than 4 in 5 Americans texting regularly and 5.5 billion messages being exchanged every day. But a novel threat presents new challenges: political spam. In part, text messaging’s popularity is explained by the fact that users on […]
American Consumer Institute Supports FCC Move to Protect Consumers from Robotexts
The following statement can be attributed to Steve Pociask, President of the American Consumer institute, regarding today’s FCC adoption of a declaratory ruling classifying text messaging as an information service: “The FCC’s decision to classify text messaging as an ‘information service’ will help ensure that consumers continue to benefit from the sophisticated tools that have […]
The Hill: Want to ruin text messaging? Get the government involved
The FCC is poised to defeat an effort to make it easier for spammers and other bad actors to bombard users through text messaging. Consumers should rejoice. This op-ed is available at The Hill.
ACI Calls on FCC to Reject Text Messaging Regulations
The FCC is currently accepting comments on a petition that seeks the application of 1930s-style common carrier regulations on text messaging services. Today, ACI called on the FCC to reject the petition. The following is an except of ACI’s filing with the FCC: Comments of the American Consumer Institute The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) is […]