{
  "id": "POL-198",
  "slug": "pol-198",
  "title": "STOP and HELP instructions must be legible — bold is not required",
  "statement": "The STOP and HELP instructions must be legible in the rendered terms; bold typeface is no longer required.",
  "rationale": "The bold requirement came from the legacy MMA guidelines and was withdrawn in CTIA SCMH v1.8, but it survives in circulated checklists — so brands are still being told to reformat documents and tools still flag compliant terms. What survives is the plain requirement underneath: a reader has to be able to find the instructions.",
  "layer": "POLICY_PAGE",
  "layerSlug": "policy-page",
  "object": "SMS terms typography as rendered",
  "severity": "LOW",
  "detectability": [
    "VISION"
  ],
  "failureClass": "TERMINAL_POLICY",
  "artifact": "sms_terms",
  "authorities": [
    "CTIA"
  ],
  "applicabilityText": "Applies to every 10DLC registration.",
  "universal": true,
  "remediation": "Leave the formatting alone if the instructions are readable. Where they are set in small print or the same weight as a wall of text, give them their own line rather than bolding them. Done when a reader can find the STOP instruction at a glance.",
  "example": "A short paragraph of its own: \"To stop receiving messages, reply STOP to any message from us.\"",
  "notes": "Recorded so a legacy checklist does not reintroduce the withdrawn requirement. SCMH v1.8 Appendix B footnote 20 states that opt-out information no longer needs to appear in bold typeface — never report a lack of bold as a defect.",
  "phase": "approval",
  "automated": true,
  "url": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/policy-page/pol-198/",
  "markdown": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/policy-page/pol-198.md",
  "registry": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/",
  "updated": "2026-07-25",
  "licence": "CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}