Twitter Faces TCPA Violations for Unwanted Text Spam

Major social networking giant Twitter is facing a potential Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action lawsuit, from a woman who alleges she received numerous text spam messages from the company.

Lead plaintiff Beverly Nunes, filed the proposed TCPA class action lawsuit in California federal court, claiming that Twitter sent hundreds of unwanted text spam messages and violated federal consumer protection laws.

Nunes claims that soon after she was assigned a phone number previously registered to a person named Jose P., she began receiving unwanted text spam consisting of tweets meant for two Twitter accounts, from which Jose P. had registered for SMS tweets.

Twitter unsuccessfully argued for dismissal of the case, contending that the previous owner of the cell phone number was to blame.

Nunes opposed Twitter’s motion to dismiss, stating that only the social media company would have been able to send the unsolicited text messages.

In addition, Nunes stated that if Twitter’s argument was accepted,  then any consumer with a recycled phone number would be in danger of receiving text spam they did not consent to.

“Yet, that is the position Twitter now argues for, this time in the guise of the fiction that the prior owner’s consent to receive text messages actually transformed the prior owner into the maker or initiator of all text message calls made thereafter, including even after the prior owner gave up the number,” Nunes stated.

Twitter Text Spam Allegations

Previously Twitter tried for a bid summary judgment, stating that the company merely directs the messages of its users by transmitting the messages and do not actually “initiate” the messages and therefore not liable.

Furthermore, Twitter argued “publisher liability” has been blocked by the Communications Decency Act, (CDA) and that publisher liability would threaten the performance of the safe transmission of the messages.

However, Nunes stated that a recent Federal Communications Commissions order regarding robocalls also applied to Twitter sending unsolicited text messages.

Furthermore, the CDA does not apply to Twitter in this case because it protects provides protection regarding third party content that appears on social media and other interactive computer services websites, Nunes purports.

Nunes also pointed that several text messages were not passed along to Jose P., indicating Twitter had decided to send the unwanted text spam. Furthermore, Twitter regulates the recipients of the messages because it contains the customers’ phone numbers.

Nunes filed the proposed TCPA class action lawsuit in June 2014, claiming that she started receiving unwanted text spam from Twitter accounts associated with the previous owner of her phone number.

Even though Nunes had requested Twitter to stop sending the unsolicited text messages, her requests had been posted as tweets due to inaccurate “STOP” commands.

The presiding judge denied Twitter’s attempt to escape the proposed TCPA class action lawsuit, stating that the equipment used to send the messages is considered an automatic dialing system.

At this point in time, both parties are battling over separate motions for summary judgment

The Twitter Text Spam Class Action Lawsuit is Nunes et al. v. Twitter Inc., Case No. 3:14-cv-02843, in the U.S. District Court of Northern California.

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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