FCC is cracking down on spammy text messages

(CNN) – The Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on spammy texts with new rules for telecom companies.

The FCC said it’s seen a surge of consumer complaints in recent years tied to unwanted robotexts.

New rules adopted Thursday require phone providers to block text messages from suspicious sources, including numbers that appear to be “invalid, unallocated or unused.”

Carriers will also have to block texts coming from numbers that claim not to ever send text messages – or that the government has identified as numbers not used for texting.

The move mirrors a similar effort to shut down illegal robocalls in the U.S., which has led to at least one phone provider being cut off entirely from the U.S. telephone network.

In addition, the FCC is considering additional regulations that could, among other things, apply “do not call registry” protections to text messages for the first time.

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