The Federal Communications Commission, led by Chairman Ajit Pai, approved new rules Thursday that could make it easier for U.S. telecom giants to block suspected spam calls. Last year, the agency received more than 232,000 complaints from consumers frustrated with spam calls, FCC officials said. The FCC also permitted AT&T, Verizon and other carriers to create tools that might allow consumers to block calls coming from anyone other than the contacts already stored in their address books. Commissioners advanced debate on an additional order that would shield telecom giants from legal liability if they erroneously block calls they cannot authenticate as legitimate. The FCC’s recent efforts on call blocking are not mandatory, meaning telecom giants could choose not to change their practices.

Source: Washington Post June 06, 2019 15:11 UTC