# POL-198 — STOP and HELP instructions must be legible — bold is not required

> The STOP and HELP instructions must be legible in the rendered terms; bold typeface is no longer required.

- **Rule ID:** POL-198
- **Layer:** Policy pages (`POLICY_PAGE`)
- **Checks:** `SMS terms typography as rendered`
- **Severity:** LOW — Best practice. Worth fixing, rarely fatal on its own.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** AI vision over a consent artifact (screenshot, scan, MMS media)
- **Fix type:** Fix the privacy policy or SMS terms
- **Required by:** CTIA
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/policy-page/pol-198/

## Why this rule exists

The bold requirement came from the legacy MMA guidelines and was withdrawn in CTIA SCMH v1.8, but it survives in circulated checklists — so brands are still being told to reformat documents and tools still flag compliant terms.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.

## How to fix it

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 of a compliant value

```text
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Recorded so a legacy checklist does not reintroduce the withdrawn requirement.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.