The FCC has a new plan to combat unwanted robocalls and spammy texts

November 20, 2018

The U.S. government said Tuesday that it plans to take aim at the scourge of unwelcome phone calls and spam text messages plaguing millions of consumers — but one of its proposals drew sharp rebukes, with critics concerned that it could enable telecom giants to censor legitimate communications.

The first measure, announced by the Federal Communications Commission, aims to create a national database containing information about phone numbers that have recently been disconnected and reassigned to someone else. The effort aims to help businesses, such as banks and pharmacies, avoid dialing the wrong customers repeatedly.