Is Your SMS Marketing Campaign Legal?

Navigating the 2025 SMS Compliance Minefield

Today, business texting exists at a volatile intersection of unparalleled engagement and high-stakes legal liability. While SMS boasts a massive 98% open rate, the regulatory environment has shifted from a centralized federal framework into a complex patchwork of court rulings and aggressive state laws. For any brand leveraging mobile outreach, understanding 10DLC registration and the latest TCPA updates is now a prerequisite for survival.

The Foundation: 10DLC Registration

If your business sends messages from a standard 10-digit phone number, 10DLC registration is mandatory. This process involves verifying your “brand” (your legal identity) and your “campaigns” (the specific use cases for your texts) through The Campaign Registry (TCR). Carriers now have a zero-tolerance policy for unregistered traffic; failing to register will result in your messages being filtered or blocked entirely. Successful registration grants you a "Trust Score," which determines your message throughput and delivery speed on carrier networks.

A Shifting Legal Landscape

The judicial hierarchy of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was fundamentally altered in June 2025. In McLaughlin v. McKesson, the Supreme Court ruled that district courts are no longer bound by FCC interpretations. Judges must now determine the TCPA’s meaning independently, which is expected to create jurisdictional variability and more frequent litigation.

Furthermore, the Eleventh Circuit recently vacated the FCC’s “one-to-one” consent rule. This rule would have required individual consent for every single seller, effectively ending shared lead generation. Because the rule was vacated, the broader interpretation of consent remains in effect for now, allowing platforms to capture consent for multiple sellers through a single clear disclosure.

Operational Compliance and Prohibited Content

New federal opt-out rules that took effect in April 2025 have lowered the barriers for consumers to revoke consent. Consumers may now opt out in “any reasonable manner,” including verbal requests or non-standard text replies. Once a request is received, businesses have a maximum of 10 business days to honor it.

Businesses must also strictly adhere to content guidelines. Carriers automatically block SHAFT content (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco). Even if a product is legal at the state level, such as cannabis or CBD, it remains federally prohibited on all U.S. carrier networks.

The Rise of "Mini-TCPA" State Laws

Federal compliance is no longer a complete shield. At least 15 jurisdictions now enforce their own “mini-TCPA” statutes. Notable among these is Texas SB 140, which took effect in September 2025. It classifies promotional texts as “telephone solicitation,” requiring businesses to register with the state and post a $10,000 security bond.

To protect your brand from penalties that reach $1,500 per message, your 2025 strategy must prioritize transparency, jurisdiction-aware frameworks, and technical verification.

Analogy: Navigating SMS compliance in 2025 is like driving on a highway where the speed limits and traffic laws change every time you cross a state line—you must constantly monitor your dashboard and the signs ahead to avoid a costly ticket.