AT&T Confronts Political Messaging Complaints as Election Season Approaches

WASHINGTON, Aug 15, 2024 – AT&T, a mobile industry leader with about 100 millions subscribers, said it is taking steps to address consumer concerns about unwanted text messages, particularly from political campaigns ahead of the November elections.

In a recent communication to the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T said it was looking closely at concerns about political messaging sent through 10-Digit Long Code (10DLC) phone numbers, after becoming the leading source of consumer messaging complaints.

Internal data from April 2024 revealed that five of the top seven most complained-about phone numbers were tied to a single presidential candidate, with 74 of the top 100 numbers linked to political campaigns.

Despite political messaging constituting about 7% of AT&T’s overall messaging traffic, it is responsible for 60% of all complaints related to 10DLC messages—a nearly tenfold overrepresentation.

AT&T representatives met Monday with the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau to address growing concerns about political messaging and discuss efforts to protect consumers from challenges posed by spam and scam text messages. 

AT&T representatives expect the volume of political messages, and consequently consumer complaints, will increase as the election season intensifies this fall. The company’s filing advocated for a multi-pronged effort led by the U.S. government to target bad actors.

Consumers have grown frustrated with unwanted political messaging. A recent CTIA poll showed that 80% of Americans believe politicians should adhere to rules and honor consumer opt-in preferences before sending messages, up from 68% in 2020. This sentiment is bipartisan, with 90% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans supporting requirements for consumer consent before sending political messages.

In response, AT&T is preparing for the rollout of Rich Communications Services (RCS), an advanced messaging protocol designed to replace traditional SMS/MMS.

RCS can offer several advantages for controlling and managing political messaging, including sophisticated filtering and moderation features. For instance, AT&T can use advanced algorithms to analyze and filter message content more effectively, flagging or blocking messages that do not comply with established guidelines.