SMS Prohibited Content (US/CA)

SMS Prohibited Content

The following message categories are prohibited for SMS and MMS:

High-risk financial services
Third-party lead generation
Debt collection and forgiveness
“Get rich quick” schemes or Multi-level marketing
Illegal substances
Gambling
Sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco (SHAFT)

Below, these categories are expanded upon in more detail:

Category	Examples	Notes
High-risk financial services	Payday loans Short term high-interest loans New loan soliciting Third-party auto loans Third-party mortgage loans Student loans Cryptocurrency Stocks and inveseting platforms	“Third-party” means originating from any party other than the one which will service the loan. SMS messages featuring financial investment advice or tips, as well as information on loans and refinancing options, are prohibited. Carriers also prohibit messages with links to donation sites. First party loan content is acceptable if it is not promotional messaging, unless it is on an approved Short Code. Legitimate financial institutions may use SMS in accordance with certain restrictions, and often leverage text alerts for suspicious card activity, appointment reminders, and other transactional messages.
Third-party lead generation services	Companies that buy, sell, or share consumer information.	Buying, selling, or sharing of consumer data is strictly prohibited. The business that obtained consent is the only business authorized to send SMS. “Cold” outreach is the solicitation of business from potential customers who have had no prior contact with the business and is strictly prohibited. Political use case customers sending SMS messages are not able to use voter registration databases to collect consent and outreach end-users. Any business with a terms of service or privacy policy that mentions sharing or selling consumer data/opt-in information is considered noncompliant.
Debt collection or forgiveness	Third-party debt collection Debt consolidation Debt reduction Credit repair programs	Almost all debt consolidation and forgiveness efforts are prohibited for SMS and MMS. Regarding debt collection, the business owed the debt can send payment reminders to late payers, personalized messages with account details, and follow up on payment confirmations. A third party, however, cannot attempt to collect the debt for you via SMS and MMS. Debt consolidation, debt reduction and credit repair programs are prohibited regardless if there is first-party consent.
"Get rich quick” schemes or Multi-level marketing	Work-from-home programs Risk investment opportunities “Get rich quick," "build your wealth," and "financial independence" offerings Multi-level marketing, network marketing and pyramid schemes	Multi-level marketing (MLM) products, services, or content commonly associated with unsolicited commercial messages (spam) are prohibited. This is different from outreach about employment as a result of compliant opt-in practices, messages from brokerages to their members, investment news alerts, or other investment-related messages.
Illegal substances	Marijuana/Cannabis CBD/THC Prescription drugs Vaping	Cannabis is federally illegal in the United States. Cannabis businesses will not be permitted to use SMS/MMS messaging in the US, regardless of message content. CBD is federally legal, but is not legal in some US states, so US carriers do not permit messaging related to CBD. Offers for drugs that cannot be sold over-the-counter in the US/Canada are forbidden.
Gambling	Casino apps Gambling websites	While gambling traffic is prohibited on Toll Free, it is allowed on Short Code, or Long Code, as long as proper age gating procedures are in place.
"S.H.A.F.T." use cases	Sex Hate Alcohol Firearms Tobacco *	* While Tobacco traffic is prohibited on Toll Free, it is allowed on Short Code, or Long Code (10DLC), as long as proper age gating procedures are in place. ** Firearms and Alcohol traffic is allowed on Toll Free, Short Code, and Long Code (10DLC), as long as proper age gating procedures are in place. Vaping-related traffic is prohibited.