Politics / The rules of consent When “Stop” Has a Scope The FCC changes the defaults for robocall opt-outs. The test is whether people can understand—and use—the control they are promised. NEWJINMEDIA editorial team October 27, 2026 · Public-source reporting A smartphone held in St. Louis, 2016. The rule concerns the meaning and processing of consent, not a particular handset or app. Dennis Cortés cortes · Source · CC0 . 01 / THE DECISION A small word, a consequential allocation of power The FCC’s new robocall rule changes opt-out scope and response channels. What takes effect November 25, 2026—and what remains proposed. A person who says stop might mean stop these reminders, stop every sales pitch, or stop contacting me altogether. A communications system needs a way to distinguish those instructions. The political question is who gets to establish the default: the recipient, the business managing the message stream, or the government writing the rules. A final rule published Oct...

AI-generated editorial illustration of a scam call, not an actual incident. Society · Consumer protection Older adults. Bigger fraud losses. The FTC’s new older-consumer fraud report separates reported losses from estimates and shows where a pause can interrupt costly impersonation scams. October 21, 2026 · Official-source analysis Older Americans reported more than $3 billion in fraud losses in 2025. A pause before an urgent transfer can matter more than guessing whether a caller sounds convincing. 01 / Evidence and action A smaller share of reports, a disproportionate loss The most important finding in the Federal Trade Commission’s new older-consumer fraud report is not simply that losses rose. It is that a relatively small set of very large losses now accounts for most of the money older Americans report losing. That changes the practical question. Recognizing an obvious junk message is useful, but interrupting a believable emergency before a large transfer can matter much mo...