On September 30, 2026, the FCC voted to give brands the option to designate a single opt-out method, as long as you disclose it in the message.
The Federal Communications Commission just voted to narrow one of the rules driving TCPA text message litigation, and for the first time you will be able to designate a single way for subscribers to opt out of your marketing texts.
What this means if you send with Attentive: the order relaxes a federal requirement rather than adding one, and your existing opt-out tools are already designed with the stricter standard in mind.
- Standard opt-out keywords are already handled. Attentive honors FCC and carrier-required keywords on every program, so the keyword floor the FCC describes is in place today.
- Fuzzy opt-outs are already flagged. Attentive automatically detects certain “fuzzy opt-out” messages that may suggest a subscriber wants to stop receiving texts, even without a recognized opt out keyword. These trigger a message from your phone number with instructions how to opt-out, helping ensure subscribers who intend to stop receiving messages can do so. This also allows subscribers who do not want to opt out to continue receiving messages.
- Consent and opt-out activity is already on record. Attentive maintains the opt-in and opt-out evidence behind each subscriber, which is what you need if a request is ever disputed.
The only new step is conditional. If you choose to designate a single opt-out method, you will need to add that disclosure to your messages. If you don’t designate one, you stay on the standard you are already operating under.
In this post, we cover what the order changes, what to decide about your opt-out keywords, and how Attentive already supports opt-out compliance.
What the FCC's new text message opt-out rule changes
In February 2024, the FCC adopted rules clarifying that businesses must honor an opt-out made through any reasonable means. That standard took effect in April 2025 and remains in place. A companion provision, which would have treated an opt-out from one type of message as an opt-out from every consent-based message a business sends, was waived before it took effect and has
never applied. The Commission extended that waiver through January 31, 2027. Meanwhile, plaintiffs have increasingly filed suits claiming they made a reasonable opt-out request that a brand failed to honor.
On September 30, 2026, the FCC adopted an order that lets you designate one or more specific ways a consumer can opt out of your text messages, and requires you to say clearly in the message which way that is. The final text of the order may change before it goes into effect.
The designated opt-out choices are not open-ended. You can designate an automated voice or key-press opt-out on a call, a reply to your text using one of seven standardized words, or a website or phone number you specify. Those three methods were already written into the FCC's rules as reasonable opt-out methods. Anything outside that list, such as replying to a customer service email or toggling a setting in an account, cannot serve as your designated method.
What that means in practice depends on which method you choose:
- If you designate the reply-keyword method, all seven standardized words have to work: stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel, and unsubscribe. You only have to print one of them in the message, so “Reply STOP to opt out” satisfies the disclosure requirement on its own.
- If you designate a website or phone number, that becomes the method you are required to process, and you are not obligated to hunt for opt-out intent elsewhere.
- If you designate nothing, the existing reasonable-means standard still governs. You have to honor an opt-out made through any reasonable means.
Revocation requests still have to be honored within a reasonable time, and no later than 10 business days from receipt.
Pro tip
Designating a website or phone number does not mean you should stop supporting STOP and other standard keywords. Carrier and CTIA messaging requirements have long required text programs to honor STOP independent of the FCC's rules, and several state laws carry their own opt-out obligations. Treat the seven standardized keywords as a floor you keep in place no matter what you designate.
The FCC's change gives you a defensible position on federal claims about unconventional opt-out language. It does not give you a reason to turn off the keywords consumers already know.
The FCC has adopted the order, and the amended rules will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
The Commission also opened a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking alongside the order, seeking comment on shortening the 10-business-day window and on requiring two-way texting protocols. Comments are due 30 days after Federal Register publication, and you can file in CG Docket No. 02-278.
SMS opt-out compliance: what to decide before the rule takes effect
The designated-method option narrows your federal exposure. Your opt-out handling still has to work. Here are four decisions to make before the rule takes effect:
- Decide whether to designate a method at all. Designating one narrows the range of requests you are federally required to process. Leaving it undesignated keeps you on the reasonable-means standard, which is the status quo you are already operating under. If you choose to designate a website or telephone number, you will need to regularly sync those opt outs with your Attentive SMS program.
- Disclose your designated method clearly and prominently in every applicable text. The designation only holds if the consumer can see it in the message.
- Keep all seven standard keywords working, whatever you designate. If the reply-keyword method is your designation, the FCC requires it. If it is not, carrier requirements and consumer expectation still argue for it.
- Keep detecting fuzzy opt-outs, and remember that designating one method limits your exposure federally. State opt-out obligations are unaffected by this order. Texas, for example, added a private right of action for commercial text messages in 2025.
Designating a single opt-out method may reduce uncertainty and litigation risk at the federal level. It is not a guarantee against litigation, particularly at the state level.
How Attentive supports TCPA opt-out compliance
Brands using Attentive already have strong opt-out compliance tools.
Attentive supports the standard opt-out keywords, and has flagged more than one million fuzzy opt-outs for brands on the platform. Attentive also maintains records of subscriber consent and opt-out activity, so you can show what a subscriber sent and when you honored it.
If your brand chooses to designate an exclusive opt-out method, you'll need to disclose that method in every text message you send.
We will continue to monitor the FCC's final text, Federal Register publication, and effective date, and we will update this guidance as new information becomes available.
To see how Attentive supports opt-out and consent compliance across all 50 states, request a demo.
The materials in this post are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.
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