TCPA Text Message Ruling 2026: What the Seventh Circuit Decision Means for Your Business

What Is the New TCPA Text Message Ruling?

As of July 14, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services that text messages are not “telephone calls” under Section 227(c)(5) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. This is the first federal appellate court to hold that businesses cannot be sued under the TCPA’s do-not-call provisions for sending marketing texts, but the ruling applies only in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin and does not eliminate all TCPA liability for text messaging.

Where it applies: The ruling is binding in the Seventh Circuit only, covering Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Businesses operating nationally still face TCPA exposure in other jurisdictions.

What created the split: The Ninth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in January 2026, holding that texts are calls under a different TCPA provision. This circuit split makes Supreme Court review likely.

What has not changed: TCPA Section 227(b) autodialer rules, state telemarketing laws, and consent requirements for promotional texts all remain fully enforceable nationwide.

What the Seventh Circuit Decided

On July 14, 2026, Judge Thomas Kirsch wrote the opinion in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services (No. 25-2398), affirming the dismissal of a class action complaint that alleged the defendant violated TCPA do-not-call rules by sending unwanted marketing text messages. The court’s reasoning centered on the plain meaning of the statute: when Congress enacted the TCPA in 1991, a “telephone call” referred to voice-based communication transmitted through sound. Text messages, which transmit written characters rather than sound, do not fit that definition.

The distinction matters because Section 227(c)(5) of the TCPA is the provision that gives consumers a private right of action for violations of the federal Do Not Call Registry rules. By holding that this section does not cover text messages, the Seventh Circuit effectively bars consumers in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin from suing businesses for sending marketing texts under this specific provision. It does not, however, touch the other sections of the TCPA that regulate automated calls and texts sent using an autodialer, and it does not preempt state laws.

This ruling follows the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corp., which instructed courts to interpret the TCPA based on its plain language rather than deferring to FCC interpretations. That decision opened the door for courts to revisit assumptions about the TCPA that had stood for decades, including the assumption that text messages qualified as telephone calls.

Does the TCPA Text Ruling Apply to My Business?

The ruling applies directly to businesses whose text message marketing activities touch consumers in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin. If a consumer in one of those three states receives an unwanted marketing text and tries to sue under Section 227(c)(5), this ruling provides the business with a defense to dismissal. For businesses operating exclusively within those states, it represents a meaningful reduction in litigation risk for text-based marketing.

For businesses that send texts nationally, the picture is more complicated. The Ninth Circuit held in Howard v. Republican National Committee (January 13, 2026) that text messages are calls under Section 227(b) of the TCPA. That means a business texting customers in California, Oregon, Washington, and the other Ninth Circuit states still faces the full weight of TCPA enforcement on text messaging. This circuit split, where two federal appeals courts have reached opposite conclusions, means the same text campaign can be legal in one jurisdiction and the basis for a lawsuit in another.

In our experience setting up phone systems for small businesses, the companies most affected by this uncertainty are the ones that added business texting to their VoIP plan and started sending appointment reminders, promotions, or follow-ups without fully understanding the compliance layer underneath. A modern business phone system makes texting easy. The legal framework has not kept pace with how easy it has become.

Why This Ruling Happened Now

The TCPA was written in 1991, when text messaging did not exist for consumers and “telephone call” unambiguously meant a voice conversation. For over 30 years, courts and the FCC treated texts as calls under the statute without much pushback, largely because the FCC’s interpretation carried weight under the Chevron deference doctrine.

That changed in 2024 when the Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, and then in 2025 when it applied that reasoning specifically to the TCPA in McLaughlin. With FCC interpretations no longer binding on courts, judges began reading the statute on its own terms. The Seventh Circuit’s Steidinger decision is the first appellate-level result of that shift.

The practical consequence is that TCPA law is now in flux. District courts across the country have split on the same question, and the Seventh and Ninth Circuits now disagree at the appellate level. Legal analysts widely expect the Supreme Court to take up the issue, but that process typically takes one to two years. Until then, businesses operate in a patchwork where the rules depend on geography.

What Does the TCPA Circuit Split Mean for Business Texting?

The circuit split creates a situation where the same text message campaign faces different legal treatment depending on where the recipient lives. Here is how the current landscape breaks down as of August 2026:

Factor	Seventh Circuit (IL, IN, WI)	Ninth Circuit (CA, OR, WA, and others)	All Other Circuits
Texts as “calls” under 227(c)(5)	No. Texts are not calls.	Not directly addressed in 227(c)(5), but texts treated as calls under 227(b).	Unsettled. District courts split.
Private do-not-call lawsuits for texts	Dismissed under Steidinger.	Still viable under 227(b) per Howard.	Depends on the district judge.
Autodialer rules for texts	Still apply under 227(b).	Still apply under 227(b).	Still apply under 227(b).
State telemarketing laws	Still apply. IL, IN, WI each have their own.	Still apply. CA has strong state rules.	Still apply in every state.
Practical risk for businesses	Lower for do-not-call claims. Other TCPA exposure remains.	High. Full TCPA liability for texts.	Uncertain. Compliance is the safest path.

The takeaway for any business that texts customers across state lines is that the Steidinger ruling does not create a safe harbor. It narrows one avenue of liability in three states while the rest of the country remains fully exposed or genuinely unsettled.

What Should Your Business Do Now?

Regardless of where your customers are located, these steps protect your business from TCPA exposure on text messaging while the circuit split works its way toward a resolution.

1. Audit your current texting practices. Review every text your business sends, including appointment reminders, promotional messages, and follow-ups. Identify which messages go to customers who have not given explicit written consent.
2. Confirm prior express written consent for marketing texts. TCPA Section 227(b) still requires consent for texts sent using an autodialer, and that requirement is unchanged by Steidinger. Document consent with timestamps and the specific language the customer agreed to.
3. Honor every opt-out immediately. When a customer replies STOP or requests removal, process it the same day. No additional promotional messages after consent is revoked.
4. Check your state telemarketing laws. Many states have their own do-not-call and text messaging rules that apply independently of the federal TCPA. Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin each have state-level consumer protection statutes that may still cover texts.
5. Use a phone system that logs consent and messages. A VoIP platform with business texting should log every message sent and received, timestamp opt-ins and opt-outs, and store records in a way that can be produced if a compliance question arises. This is the baseline for defensible texting.
6. Do not treat Steidinger as a green light for unsolicited texts. The ruling eliminates one category of lawsuit in three states. Every other TCPA provision, every state law, and the Ninth Circuit’s opposite holding remain in full effect.

Common Mistakes After a Ruling Like This

One question we hear from business owners every time a court narrows TCPA liability is whether they can now text more aggressively. The answer after Steidinger is the same as it was before: compliance protects revenue, and cutting corners on consent is still the fastest way to trigger a lawsuit.

The most common mistake is reading a circuit-level ruling as though it applies everywhere. Steidinger is binding in three states. A business texting customers in California, Texas, New York, or Florida gains nothing from it. The second mistake is assuming that because do-not-call claims are off the table in the Seventh Circuit, all TCPA text claims are off the table. They are not. Section 227(b) autodialer claims remain fully alive, and TCPA lawsuits have risen nearly 27 percent in early 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, according to industry tracking data.

The third mistake is failing to update internal compliance when the law shifts. If your VoIP phone number is used for both calls and texts, your team needs to know the rules for each. A phone system that separates call logs from text logs and timestamps every consent record makes that separation workable. One that does not creates a documentation gap that looks terrible in discovery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

Review your current texting workflow and confirm that consent documentation is in place for every contact who receives promotional messages.

If your phone system does not log text messages or track opt-in and opt-out events, that gap needs to close before the next compliance question lands on your desk.

For a broader look at how VoIP phone systems handle texting, calling, and compliance together, see our guide to choosing a business phone system in 2026.