Robotext and Robocall Opt-Outs: The FCC Rule Change Taking Effect Nov. 25, 2026
Note: Some future links on this site may be affiliate links. We never claim hands-on testing; guides are researched from the public sources listed in each article.
How we wrote this: A plain-English summary of the FCC's final rule published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026 (FCC 26-67, linked below), checked October 29, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. If your business sends automated calls or texts at volume, have a lawyer review your opt-out process.
If your business sends appointment reminders, payment reminders or promotional texts from an automated system, the rules for handling "STOP" are changing. On November 25, 2026, an FCC order takes effect that rewrites the consent-revocation rule many businesses had been preparing for.
Who this is about
The rule covers what the FCC calls robocalls and robotexts: calls and texts that need the recipient's prior express consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In practice that means automated or prerecorded calls and automated texts. If you only text customers one by one from your own phone, this is less likely to apply, but the good habits below still help.
What was coming, and what replaced it
Under the version of the rule the FCC adopted in 2024, a consumer who revoked consent in response to one kind of message (say, a payment reminder) would have revoked consent for all of that caller's robocalls and robotexts, including unrelated ones like fraud alerts or appointment reminders. That "revoke all" part had been delayed, most recently to January 31, 2027.
The October 2026 order replaces it before it ever took effect. The FCC says the revoke-all approach was "overinclusive" and didn't match what consumers usually intend.
The three changes
1. Opt-outs from informational messages can be category-specific. Businesses may treat a revocation sent in response to an informational message (one with no advertising or telemarketing) as applying only to that category of message. Someone who replies STOP to payment reminders can keep getting appointment reminders, for example.
2. Opt-outs from marketing still cover all marketing. A revocation in response to a message that contains an advertisement or telemarketing revokes consent for all future marketing robocalls and robotexts from that caller.
3. You can designate one opt-out method, if you disclose it. A business may choose any of these as the exclusive way to revoke consent:
- An automated, interactive voice or key-press opt-out on a call.
- Replying to a text with any of the standard words: stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel or unsubscribe.
- A website or phone number the business designates for opt-outs.
The method must be disclosed "clearly and conspicuously" on the call or in the text. For texts, the order says including just one of the standard words in each message (for example, "Reply STOP to opt out") satisfies the disclosure, as long as you honor all seven words. A business that designates a method doesn't have to process opt-outs sent other ways.
If you don't designate a method, you must keep honoring revocations made by "any reasonable means," which can include requests that never pass through your texting or calling system.
What doesn't change
- Ten business days. The rule text says opt-out requests must be honored within a reasonable time, not more than ten business days after receipt.
- One confirmation text is allowed. A text that only confirms the opt-out, with no marketing, is permitted. Sent within five minutes, it's presumed to be within the consumer's consent.
- No two-way texting? If your texting system can't receive replies, every text must say so clearly and give other reasonable ways to opt out.
- Do Not Call rules still apply to telemarketing. See our Do Not Call rules summary.
A checklist before November 25
- List the kinds of automated messages you send and label each as informational or marketing.
- Decide whether to designate an opt-out method. Reply-STOP is the simplest for texts.
- Make sure every text or automated call states the opt-out method.
- Make sure your system recognizes all seven words, not just STOP.
- Make sure an opt-out from marketing stops all marketing, and an opt-out from one informational category stops that category, within ten business days.
- If you don't designate a method, make sure staff know how to record opt-out requests that arrive some other way.
- Check carrier and 10DLC requirements too. See business texting and 10DLC registration.
In a separate further notice, the FCC asked for comment on whether businesses should have to offer a one-step way to revoke consent to all of their robocalls. Expect more updates.