Campaigns burn characters, and sometimes sleep, over one question: does a text message need a "paid for by" disclaimer? The honest answer is that no rule clearly requires it on a text, the strongest authority points the other way, and it's genuinely unsettled at the edges. Which means it's a call for your lawyer, not a rule you can look up. Here's the picture so you can have that conversation intelligently.
The federal authority points toward "no"
The leading federal authority is on the side of not requiring it. In Advisory Opinion 2002-09 (Target Wireless), the FEC held that political text messages qualify for the small items exception at 11 CFR 110.11(f)(1)(i), the same exception that covers bumper stickers, pins, and pens, items on which a disclaimer cannot be conveniently printed. The Commission reasoned that SMS placed limits on message length similar to those on a bumper sticker, so the full "paid for by" disclaimer didn't have to be crammed in.
That opinion has never been withdrawn. And when the FEC completed its long rulemaking on internet communication disclaimers, effective in 2023, it did so without disturbing it. So the clearest federal statement on the books says a text can go out without the disclaimer.
Two things that make it unsettled
If it were that simple, this would be a one-line post. It isn't, for two reasons.
The reasoning is aging. AO 2002-09 rested on the 160-character SMS limit, the idea that a text is like a bumper sticker because there's physically no room. That rationale no longer binds. Modern messaging, longer texts, MMS, and RCS, doesn't share the hard 160-character constraint the Commission relied on. And on the broader question of disclaimers for character-limited digital ads, the FEC has repeatedly deadlocked, unable to reach the votes to issue clear guidance. A 20-year-old opinion built on a limit that no longer applies, with a divided Commission behind it, is not the bedrock some campaigns treat it as.
State law is a separate universe. This is the one that catches state and local committees. A state or municipal campaign answers to its own state's attribution and disclaimer rules, which do not follow the FEC. Many states have their own "paid for by" requirements for political communications, and some may read them to reach text messages regardless of what the FEC said in 2002. The federal small-items exception is cold comfort if your state requires attribution and you're a state committee.
So what do you actually do?
You ask your counsel. This is exactly the kind of unsettled, jurisdiction-specific question that a general rule can't answer, it depends on whether you're a federal or state committee, which state you're in, and how conservative your legal posture is. Anyone who tells you there's a clean yes-or-no is overselling it.
What a good platform does is make either answer easy to execute:
- If your counsel wants the disclaimer on every message, the platform appends it automatically to every send, and shows you what it costs, because a "paid for by" line eats characters and can push a message into a second segment, raising your per-send cost. You should see that tradeoff before you commit to it.
- If your counsel says you don't need it, it stays off, and you monitor deliverability, since a clean, identified sender is what actually keeps messages landing, disclaimer or not.
The disclaimer question is one of the few in political texting where the right move is genuinely "it depends." Get the specific answer from the lawyer who knows your committee and your state, then let the platform enforce whatever they decide, consistently, on every message.
Frequently asked questions
Do political text messages need a "paid for by" disclaimer?
Federally, the leading authority (FEC Advisory Opinion 2002-09) says text messages qualify for the small items exception (11 CFR 110.11(f)(1)(i)) and don't require the full disclaimer. But the reasoning rested on the 160-character SMS limit that no longer binds, the FEC has deadlocked on related questions, and state committees follow their own state's rules. Consult counsel.
Does the FEC's text-message exemption apply to state campaigns?
Not on its own. State and local committees answer to their own state's attribution and disclaimer laws, which don't follow the FEC. A state campaign should confirm its state's rules with counsel rather than rely on the federal small-items exception.
Informational, not legal advice. Whether a disclaimer is required depends on your committee type and jurisdiction, consult counsel.
Keep reading: The CTIA Messaging Principles and how to write your first compliant political text.