In a win for telemarketers, a Florida federal court recently held that “a text message is not a ‘telephone call.’”

The TCPA’s Do Not Call provisions prohibit telephone solicitations to residential subscribers that place their numbers on the federal Do Not Call registry. In Davis v. CVS Pharm., Inc., No. 24-0477, 2025 WL 2491195 (N.D. Fla. Aug. 26, 2025), the plaintiff alleged in a class action that CVS sent him unsolicited text messages in violation of Telephone Consumer Protection Act provisions prohibiting calls to individuals registered on the Do-Not-Call Registry. See 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2).

In a ruling on behalf of CVS, the court held that that Congress used the term “telephone calls” in Section 227(c)(5), and that the text of the statute evidence that a call does not include text messages. The court opined that it is required to interpret the TCPA “in accord with the ordinary public meaning of its terms at the time of its enactment” and that, “if the text is clear, the analysis begins and ends there.”

Notably, the court rejected CVS’ position that the court should defer to a 2003 FCC order that provides for texts being considered calls for TCPA purposes. The court stated that it is not required to utilize “a statutory interpretation that conflicts with the ordinary public meaning of clear statutory text.” The holding is consistent with a recent decision by an Illinois federal court.

Until recently, numerous courts held otherwise. However, following the recent Supreme Court decision in McKesson, courts are not bound to an agency’s interpretation of a statute. Courts are required to independently determine the law’s meaning under ordinary principles of statutory interpretation while affording appropriate respect to the agency’s interpretation.