T-Mobile targets firms, not consumers, with fines for 'harmful' text messages | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read

The claim: T-Mobile changed its terms to fine customers who send ‘harmful’ personal text messages

A Dec. 26, 2023, Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows video of a woman claiming T-Mobile changed its fine print to penalize customers for what they say in text messages.

"T-Mobile has just updated their terms of service, and now, if you post any content they don't agree with, they will fine you," she says in the video.

Text in the video states the fines are for "texts they deem 'harmful.'" The woman makes clear the claim is focused on personal messages.

“Since when does a company get to determine what you are allowed to talk about in a private text message to a friend?” she says in the video.

It was liked more than 30,000 times in six days. A similar claim was widely shared on X, formerly Twitter, from conservative activist Laura Loomer.

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Our rating: False

The fines apply only to third-party vendors that send mass-marketing text messages for businesses – not individual users, the company said. Customers' terms of service have not changed. T-Mobile said it cannot censor personal text messages.

Third-party vendors, not consumers, subject to fines

The wireless industry classifies text messages into one of two categories: Those sent between two people, and those sent by non-consumers in what is called application-to-person, or A2P, messaging. Those texts are often sent in bulk by businesses or third-party vendors they hire and may include notifications related to billing and marketing, for example.

The fines described in the Instagram post apply only to those third parties that send commercial messages on the T-Mobile network that violate certain standards set by the CTIA, the wireless industry's trade group, a company spokesperson who declined to be named told USA TODAY. Consumers do not face fines for the personal texts they send, the spokesperson said, and no such changes have been made to the company’s terms of service.

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“The change only impacts third-party messaging vendors that send commercial mass messaging campaigns for other businesses,” the spokesperson said in an email. “The vendors will be fined if the content they are sending does not meet the standards in our code of conduct, which is in place to protect consumers from illegal or illicit content and aligns to federal and state laws.”

T-Mobile cannot and does not censor or review its customers’ text messages, but the wireless carrier does use filters to block spam, phishing attempts or other malware, the spokesperson said.

Text shown in the video and in the X post is nearly identical to a paragraph posted to the website of a communications company that contracts with companies to send those types of messages. But unlike that website, the version in the video and on X does not include any mention of the “A2P” acronym. Similar notices about the changes appeared on the websites of communications companies Sakari and Vonage.

The three-tiered schedule of fines was outlined by T-Mobile in December 2023 and took effect Jan. 1. Vendors who send mass messages considered harmful to consumers are subject to those penalties, which range from $2,000 (for phishing or other attempts to manipulate people into revealing private information) to $500 (for sending content that violates its code of conduct).

Additionally, the speaker in the Instagram video wrongly claims a violation of “SHAFT” content – an acronym that stands for sex, hate, alcohol, firearms and tobacco – would result in fines “in the thousands” of dollars. The penalty for such a violation is $500, according to both the notices posted on company websites and to the text shown in the video itself.

USA TODAY reached out to Loomer and the Instagram user who shared the post but did not immediately receive responses.

The Associated Press and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: T-Mobile aims fines at firms sending harmful mass texts | Fact check