Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-511_p86b.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2020 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is 
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued. 
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

FACEBOOK, INC. v. DUGUID ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE NINTH CIRCUIT 

No. 19–511.  Argued December 8, 2020—Decided April 1, 2021 

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) proscribes abu-
sive  telemarketing  practices  by,  among  other  things,  restricting  cer-
tain communications made with an “automatic telephone dialing sys-
tem.”  The  TCPA  defines  such  “autodialers”  as  equipment  with  the 
capacity both “to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, us-
ing a random or sequential number generator,” and to dial those num-
bers.    47  U. S. C.  §227(a)(1).    Petitioner  Facebook,  Inc.,  maintains  a 
social media platform that, as a security feature, allows users to elect
to receive text messages when someone attempts to log in to the user’s 
account  from  a  new  device  or  browser.    Facebook  sent  such  texts  to 
Noah  Duguid,  alerting  him  to  login  activity  on  a  Facebook  account
linked to his telephone number, but Duguid never created that account
(or any account on Facebook).  Duguid tried without success to stop the
unwanted  messages,  and  eventually  brought  a  putative  class  action 
against  Facebook.    He  alleged  that  Facebook  violated  the  TCPA  by
maintaining a database that stored phone numbers and programming 
its equipment to send automated text messages.  Facebook countered 
that the TCPA does not apply because the technology it used to text
Duguid did not use a “random or sequential number generator.”  The 
Ninth Circuit disagreed, holding that §227(a)(1) applies to a notifica-
tion system like Facebook’s that has the capacity to dial automatically
stored numbers. 

Held: To qualify as an “automatic telephone dialing system” under the 
TCPA,  a  device  must  have  the  capacity  either  to  store  a  telephone
number using a random or sequential number generator, or to produce
a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator. 
Pp. 4–12.