Texas federal magistrate rules texts are not calls under TCPA Do Not Call
Summary
In Siringi v. Crust Pizza, a magistrate judge in the Southern District of Texas held on October 14, 2026 that SMS messages are not telephone calls for TCPA Do Not Call purposes, dismissing a suit over pizza promotion texts sent after the consumer texted stop. TCPAWorld calls it the first Texas court to hold so; the assigned Article III judge has not yet adopted it.
TopCloserR Perspective
The takeaway
A magistrate judge in the Southern District of Texas ruled on October 14, 2026 that text messages fall outside the TCPA's Do Not Call telephone-call provision. The ruling is not final until the assigned district judge adopts it, and other Texas courts have ruled the other way.
Who this affects
- In the role
- Sales texts to Do Not Call numbers in Texas now face split rulings: this one favors senders, while earlier Texas decisions went the other way.
- Aspiring
- Appointment setters and inside reps moving into SMS-heavy outbound roles. — The texting rules in their future territory could depend on which court hears a case.
- In the role
- SMS cadences and Do Not Call suppression settings sit at the center of this unsettled question.
- Aspiring
- Sales ops analysts and admins who manage messaging tools. — Text-message rules are one of the less settled areas they would take on.
Who usually handles this
- The question of text messages under Do Not Call rules usually sits with your legal team.SDR
Still open: whether the assigned district judge adopts the magistrate's ruling and whether other Texas courts follow it.
- The question of SMS suppression lists usually sits with your compliance team.Sales Operations Manager
Still open: how this ruling squares with earlier Texas decisions that treated texts as calls for Do Not Call purposes.
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