Gianforte Urges FCC to Act Against ‘Malicious and Deceptive’ Robocalls

Montanans are constantly bombarded with robocalls and Congressman Greg Gianforte is trying to help solve the problem. At a Communications and Technology subcommittee hearing, Gianforte pressed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on the issue.

“Montanans have told me one of the worst things they face day to day are illegal robocalls,” Gianforte said. “They’re getting called with bogus insurance offers, threats of legal action, and promises of government grants. Robocall scams put Montanans at risk of being robbed or having their identity stolen. These kinds of robocalls are malicious and deceptive.”

Chairman Pai responded and said they are taking aggressive action.

“We have empowered companies to block calls from obviously spoofed numbers,” Pai said. “We have also taken aggressive enforcement action against some of the robocallers, including the largest fines ever imposed in the FCC’s history. I have personally demanded that the phone industry adopt call authentication by the end of this year or else the FCC will take regulatory intervention.”

Chairman Pai described one of his goals to fight illegal robocalls.

I’m proposing, and I hope that my colleagues will agree, to allow robocall blocking by default so that consumers don’t have to affirmatively opt into those services,” Pai said. “Phone carriers will block them by default. In many cases, the consumer wouldn’t even know that a robocall had been placed because it will be blocked in the outset.”

Gianforte recently signed onto the Support Tools to Obliterate Pesky Robocalls Act, which makes it easier for customers to use robocall-blocking services. It also establishes a process for private entities to share information with the FCC to better track and stop illegal robocalls, texts, or spoofing.