What's Happening?
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that text messages do not constitute 'telephone calls' under the private right of action provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), specifically 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5). This decision, made
in the case of Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, departs from previous interpretations by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding other TCPA provisions. The court determined that the ordinary public meaning of 'telephone call' at the TCPA's enactment in 1991 referred to communication via sound, predating the first text message. Furthermore, the court noted that other sections of the TCPA distinguish between 'calls' and 'messages,' suggesting Congress understood this difference. This ruling is significant as it is the first appellate decision to address the meaning of 'telephone call' under § 227(c)(5) following the 2025 Supreme Court decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corporation, which stated that courts are not bound by FCC interpretations of the TCPA.
Why It's Important?
This ruling by the Seventh Circuit has immediate and far-reaching implications for businesses, particularly those engaged in telemarketing and customer communication. For companies operating within the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin), this decision provides a potential defense against TCPA lawsuits based on text messages under § 227(c)(5). The statutory damages for TCPA violations can be substantial, up to $500 per violation, making this a critical development for businesses facing such litigation. While the decision is geographically limited, it could serve as persuasive precedent for courts outside the Seventh Circuit and may influence how other TCPA provisions are interpreted. This creates increased complexity and ambiguity for companies trying to understand their TCPA compliance obligations, as they may need to maintain different compliance structures depending on the jurisdiction and specific TCPA provision being invoked. It also signals a potential shift in how long-established privacy rules developed by administrative agencies might be reevaluated by courts.
What's Next?
Businesses should anticipate continued ambiguity regarding the definition of 'telephone call' under the TCPA, as other circuit courts may weigh in on this question, potentially reaching different conclusions. Companies with nationwide text messaging operations will likely need to maintain their existing TCPA compliance programs, as this ruling is currently binding only within the Seventh Circuit and does not affect state-level 'mini-TCPAs' that specifically include text messages in their definitions. The decision may encourage a more aggressive posture from some companies in their telemarketing programs, given the changing legal landscape. Legal experts will be closely watching for how other courts interpret 'telephone call' in the context of the TCPA, both within and outside of § 227(c)(5), and whether they adopt the Seventh Circuit's reasoning or continue to defer to longstanding FCC interpretations. This could lead to further litigation and potentially conflicting rulings across different jurisdictions.
Beyond the Headlines
The Seventh Circuit's decision highlights a broader legal trend where courts are increasingly scrutinizing the scope of administrative agency interpretations, especially in light of recent Supreme Court precedent. By declining to defer to the FCC's past interpretations, the court emphasized a strict textualist approach to statutory interpretation, focusing on the ordinary meaning of terms at the time of a law's enactment. This approach could have significant implications for other areas of regulatory law where technological advancements have outpaced legislative language. The ruling also underscores the challenges of applying decades-old statutes to modern communication technologies. It raises questions about the adaptability of existing legal frameworks to rapid technological change and whether Congress needs to update laws like the TCPA to explicitly address contemporary communication methods like text messaging, rather than relying on judicial interpretation or agency guidance. This could lead to a push for legislative clarity to reduce legal uncertainty for both consumers and businesses.
