Attorney General Jackley Pushes Federal Government to Strengthen ‘Know Your Upstream Provider Rules’ to Combate Illegal Robocalls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878 

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined 48 other Attorneys General in urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to strengthen its “Know Your Upstream Provider” (KYUP) requirements to help prevent scammers from using the U.S. phone network to make illegal robocalls. 

Phone calls are routed through a series of phone companies before they reach the consumer’s phone. KYUP rules require voice service providers to ensure they receive calls from upstream legitimate and responsible providers and do not regularly pass through illegal calls. The FCC requires all voice service providers to take reasonable measures to vet the phone companies that originate and route calls. 

“Preventing voice providers from letting illegal robocalls pass through their networks is critical. Some providers still allow these calls onto the U.S. system, putting South Dakotans and consumers nationwide at risk,” said Attorney General Jackley. “The FCC must strengthen requirements to ensure upstream providers are fully accountable.”

In addition to what the FCC is already doing, the Attorneys General also urged it to: 

• Mandate five categories of baseline KYUP measures and request the FCC demand that voice service providers collect more detailed and verified information from their upstream provider customers.
• Require additional triggers for KYUP monitoring and request evidence that the FCC has required upstream provider monitoring more regularly to help prevent bad actors from operating unchecked. 
• Strengthen STIR/SHAKEN protections. STIR/SHAKEN is a framework to ensure that a caller is placing calls from phone numbers that are not being spoofed. The Attorneys General want the FCC to ensure that providers comply with their caller ID authentication obligations.
• Implement new rules quickly, establish enforcement penalties, and require retention of KYUP data. The Attorneys General support base penalties for providers that don’t meet upstream provider monitoring requirements or violate STIR/SHAKEN.

Attorney General Jackley is part of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which launched Operation Robocall Roundup in 2025. The task force has worked to keep voice service providers accountable for their interactions with consumers.

Other Attorneys General joining the letter are from Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,  Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

The letter can be read here: www.naag.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FINAL-LTR-49-State-AGs-re-KYUP-FNPRM-Ltr-3-Sept-2026.pdf

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