Two More Courts Confirm Texts Are “Calls” Under the TCPA
If you’ve been watching the recent TCPA litigation over whether a text message counts as a “call,” two more courts just landed on the “yes” side. The decisions reinforce the safest compliance rule: treat texts like calls.
This issue has gained momentum after McLaughlin Chiropractic Assocs., Inc. v. McKesson Corp., 606 U.S. 146 (2025), where the Supreme Court held that district courts are not automatically bound by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) interpretation of the TCPA. Instead, judges must interpret the statute for themselves, giving only “appropriate respect” to the FCC’s views. In practice, McLaughlin has encouraged defendants to challenge long-assumed TCPA interpretations, including whether the term “call” includes a text message.
Most recently, the Northern District of Illinois refused to dismiss a TCPA claim based on the argument that texts are not “calls.” Hernandez v. Bedford Dental L.L.C., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23208 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 4, 2026). The court leaned heavily on the FCC’s long-standing position that text messages are treated as calls under the TCPA and noted that the Supreme Court has repeatedly assumed the same.
A week earlier, the Southern District of Texas reached the same conclusion in Alvarez v. Fiesta Nissan, Inc., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14155 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 26, 2026), holding that “telephone calls” under the TCPA’s do-not-call private right of action can include text messages. The court took a plain-language, original-meaning approach, relying on a dictionary definition that a “call” means “to get into communication by telephone.” Because texting is still communication using a telephone system, the court found it fits comfortably within the statute’s scope.
Taken together, these cases reinforce what has become the most defensible compliance position: courts continue to treat SMS marketing and informational texts as regulated telemarketing conduct, even when the statutory language uses the word “call.” Businesses should continue to apply the same controls to text campaigns that they apply to calling programs, including scrubbing against do-not-contact lists, maintaining consent records, honoring opt-outs immediately, and monitoring vendor compliance closely.
For related context and the broader “texts vs. calls” split, see: