FCC to Congress: Your tele-town halls are safe

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The Federal Communications Commission is trying to calm the nerves of lawmakers about the legality of their telephone town hall outreach. The agency issued a set of FAQs on July 31 clarifying that nothing in a recent FCC ruling to strengthen robocall restrictions will change how lawmakers are allowed to reach out to constituents through virtual town halls. “As long as vendors for tele-town halls continue to adhere to the decades old rules, use of these services should pose no issue,” the agency wrote.

Confusion was expressed earlier when FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler suggested lawmakers were violating FCC robocall restrictions if they called constituents without their prior consent. Chairman Wheeler’s statement at the end of a three-hour House hearing shocked the lawmakers still left in the room, and the agency quickly clarified that Chairman Wheeler meant to make an important distinction between robocalls to mobile phones vs. landlines. Lawmakers and others have for decades been allowed to make “informational” robocalls -- including outreach for a telephone town hall -- to landline telephones. But those same calls to a mobile phone are prohibited, unless a lawmaker or vendor gets prior consent. That has been the case since mobile phones began to be covered by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.


FCC to Congress: Your tele-town halls are safe FAQ -- Tele-Town Halls (FCC)