Did Trump Campaign Violate Text Spam Laws?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits companies from using an autodialer to send text messages to mobile phones unless the company has the consumer’s consent. So, does the law also reign over texts from political campaigns?

Plaintiff Joshua T. from Illinois thinks so. He has filed a class action text spam lawsuit against Donald J. Trump’s campaign committee, accusing the political entity of sending text spam to his cell phone and to the cell phones of others who received unwanted text messages.

Joshua says he has never given his cell phone to the Trump campaign, nor does he wish to receive text messages from it.

What Is Text Spam?

Text spam is an unsolicited text message that is sent to a large number of cell phones, sometimes at random.

On or about March 4, 2016, Trump for President transmitted the following text message to Joshua’s cell phone:

“Reply YES to subscribe to Donald J. Trump for President. Your subscription will help Make America Great Again! Msg&data rates may apply.”

The source of the message was “88022.” This is the short code assigned to the Trump for President’s text message marketing campaign.

Trump for President sent this alleged text spam to Joshua and to other class members through the use of equipment that could randomly or sequentially generate phone numbers.

The campaign used a company called Tatango that offers the ability to send thousands of text messages en masse. Tatango’s guide states that prior express consent from text message recipients is necessary.

Trump for President allegedly never received prior consent to send the message to Joshua’s phone, resulting in the text spam lawsuit.

Do TCPA Laws Cover Political Campaigns?

A bipartisan coalition has filed suit against U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to declare that the First Amendment overrides TCPA laws when it comes to political campaigns.

The politicians state that Congress instructed the FCC to account for the “free speech protections embodied in the First Amendment of the Constitution” when determining the impact of any restrictions on non-commercial communications.

They also note other exceptions that have been made to the TCPA laws over the years. In 2012, the FCC exempted autodialed messages from the wireless carrier to its customer as long as the customer was not charged.

In 2014, the FCC exempted package delivery notifications from the TCPA laws as long as those calls or texts did not inflict charges to the customer.

In 2015, the FCC granted an exemption to calls and texts that were to notify a consumer of possible credit card fraud or identity theft.

While these exceptions all tend to benefit the consumer, the political groups believe that their messages benefit the consumer as well by encouraging free discourse of ideas and opinions and that political messages should not be subject to text spam lawsuits.

Consumers who receive unwanted text messages or text spam from companies could be entitled to $500 to $1500 per text sent, according to TCPA regulations. It is against the law for companies to send text messages to individuals who have not given the companies prior consent. The TCPA puts teeth into text spam lawsuits.

The Trump for President Text Spam Class Action Lawsuit is Thorne v. Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., Case No. 16-cv-4603, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.

The TCPA Political Group Lawsuit is America Association of Political Consultants, Inc et al. v. Loretta Lynch, in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States, Case No. 5:16-cv-00252, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Western Division.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

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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