Understanding Prohibited Content and Internal Message Blocks

Overview

Sakari blocks SMS and MMS content* that falls into any of the following categories:

  • Phishing, smishing, and social engineering
    • Social engineering refers to the practice of manipulating individuals to reveal private information, e.g. credit card numbers or social security numbers
  • Illegal content, including but no limited to, Cannabis, Marijuana, CBD, Psychoactive Plants, Illegal Prescriptions and Solicitation
  • S.H.A.F.T. content
    • S.H.A.F.T is an industry acronym that stands for Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco

Keep in mind, even if your use case does not fall into one of the above categories, explicit consent is still required for SMS messaging and we strongly encourage you to regularly review your SMS campaigns to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.

 

*Certain use cases may be allowed with proper review and processes in place. Contact our support team if you have any questions or concerns.

 

Internal Note: Third-party lead generation, High-risk financial services, Debt collection and forgiveness, Gambling, Multi-level Marketing, Political content

T-Mobile Fines

T-Mobile is instituting three new fees for non-compliant traffic that result in a Severity-0 violation. A Sev-0, (Severity-0) represents the most harmful violation to consumers.  This applies across all products (SMS or MMS, Short Code, Toll-Free, and 10DLC) that transverse T-Mobile's network.

The non-compliance fine(s) (USD) will be assessed to the offending account for every Sev-0 violation issued as follows:

  • Tier 1: $2,000, for phishing, smishing, and social engineering
    • Social Engineering refers to the practice of targeting individuals in a way that manipulates individuals to reveal private information like credit card numbers, or social security numbers.
  • Tier 2: $1,000, for illegal content (included content must be legal in all 50 states and federally)
    • Illegal content includes, but is not limited to, Cannabis, Marijuana, CBD, Illegal Prescriptions and Solicitation.
  • Tier 3: $500, for all other violations including, but not limited to, SHAFT

If traffic continues to receive Sev-0 violations, carriers maintain the right to suspend a brand and remove access to their platforms.

Other Carriers

Please note that while T-Mobile is the first carrier to implement direct fines related to prohibited content, there is precedence of individual traffic and senders being blocked or suspended for messaging containing the above outlined prohibited content.

Sakari will continue to monitor and update to help customers remain compliant and to ensure the highest levels of SMS deliverability for traffic through our platform.

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