State and federal enforcement agencies are receiving more complaints than ever about robocalls, commonly used in political campaigns as well as by more shady business operations. That’s leading to action by legislatures around the country, according to PEW’s Stateline. Based on tracking by YouMail Inc., which markets software to block such calls, the number robocalls shot up significantly from 2.9 billion calls in January to 4.1 billion in June. Last year, a spokesperson for the state Public Service Commission told The Advocate that the agency handles roughly 30 to 50 complaints each month regarding robocalls.
Here are some of the state-specific efforts underway, per PEW’s latest research:
- Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, in June signed a bill adding criminal fines and penalties to the state’s anti-robocall statute. The law goes into effect in October.
- A bill making its way through the Massachusetts Legislature would prohibit robocalls to mobile devices, imposing penalties and fines, starting at $10,000, for each violation.
- A bill in New Jersey urges the FCC to require landline and wireless telephone service providers to implement technology to block robocalls to customers, free of charge.
- A New York bill similarly would limit autodialed telephone calls to state residents and require telephone service providers to provide free “call mitigation technology.”
Here, in Louisiana, among the last few efforts to better regular robocalls came from Rep. Truck Gisclair in 2012. As robocalls were being used more frequently in conjunction with policy campaigns, Gisclair unsuccessfully sought to add layers of restrictions amid complaints that his bill was too broadly drawn. Generally, robocalls are carried out like large phone banks, delivering a recorded message to anyone answering the ring. But the bill sponsored by Gisclair would have only addressed those robocalls that invite the other person on the line to press a button to be connected directly to lawmakers.
—Bruce Hamilton, a staff attorney for the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, told LaPolitics that of the dozen or so complaints his organization has received this year about government officials supposedly “abusing” social media platforms, at least five involve U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre. LaPolitics learned the ACLU was fielding complaints and monitoring the online activities of elected officials after a subscriber posted a related status update on their social media account.
When contacted, Hamilton declined to disclose the other officials who have spurred complaints from Louisiana citizens but said they range from a member of Congress to a parish public information officer. At least one complaint involves a citizen being blocked by an elected official, but what exactly the ACLU deems to be abuse is unclear. Hamilton said the ACLU sent a letter to Higgins Monday telling him about these complaints and asking him to address them. Hamilton said they have yet to get a reply, and Higgins’ office said they don’t have a record of receiving the letter. The ACLU declined to share the letter with LaPolitics.
While his name never surfaced as part of this particular story, Sen. Conrad Appel has a reputation on Twitter for blocking certain accounts. “I have a real simple rule,” said Appel. “If someone uses foul language, makes threatening or derogatory comments or attacks someone personally, I block them.”
As for what comes next, if anything, we’ll just have to wait and see. “There’s a legal basis for saying public officials can’t do this,” Hamilton said. “When a government official creates a Facebook page or establishes a forum to engage in dialogue with his or her constituents… they can’t just selectively decide to delete comments they don’t like.”
They Said It: “I’m thinking, ‘Man, I must be dropping acid.’ Not that I’ve ever dropped acid. But … for the record, I have not.”—U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge, describing his reaction to committee testimony, on C-SPAN.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
