# MSG-098 — Links must not pass through multi-hop redirects

> A URL in message content must not chain through multiple redirects that hide the eventual destination.

- **Rule ID:** MSG-098
- **Layer:** Message content (`MESSAGE_CONTENT`)
- **Checks:** `campaign.sample[] link destinations`
- **Severity:** HIGH — Rejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** AI judgement over the submitted form
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** CTIA, TCR, T-Mobile
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/message-content/msg-098/

## Why this rule exists

Redirect chains defeat the transparency the URL rules exist to create — the consumer, and the carrier, cannot know where the link ends up. It is also the standard technique for laundering a blocked destination through a clean-looking first hop.

## How to fix it

Link the final destination directly. Where click tracking is required, use a first-party tracking path on your own domain that redirects once.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
https://acmecoffee.com/sale (direct) rather than a tracking chain through three third-party hosts.
```