TENNESSEE AG AND 48 STATES URGE FCC TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL ROBOCALLS
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general in pressing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to tighten regulations on the U.S. phone network to block illegal robocalls.
The coalition is calling on the FCC to strengthen its “Know Your Upstream Provider” (KYUP) rules, which require voice service providers to thoroughly vet the entities originating and routing calls. While existing rules mandate reasonable vetting measures, gaps have allowed bad actors to infiltrate the network, contributing to nearly 30 billion scam calls and texts and almost $2 billion in consumer losses last year.
-
Stricter Vetting: Mandate that providers continuously monitor upstream customers and immediately cut off rule-breakers.
-
Better Enforcement: Strengthen oversight of caller ID spoofing frameworks and require companies to retain verification records for law enforcement.
-
State Action: The push builds on ongoing initiatives by the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which launched Operation Robocall Roundup in 2025 to target negligent voice service providers.
“Companies that carry calls across our nation’s phone networks have a responsibility to know who they are connecting us with,” said Attorney General Skrmetti, emphasizing that stronger federal safeguards are essential to locking foreign scammers out of the system.
