On September 9, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) circulated a draft order that would narrow how consumer revocations of consent apply under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). If adopted, callers could treat certain opt-out requests as limited to the category of automated calls or texts at issue, rather than as revocation of all prior consent. The draft order, listed as “TCPA Modernization,” is scheduled for a vote at the FCC’s September 30 open meeting.
On September 8, 2026, a bipartisan coalition of 49 state and territorial attorneys general filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the agency to make its “Know Your Upstream Provider” (KYUP) requirements mandatory for voice service providers. The coalition is led by North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who also chairs the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force. The filing follows the coalition’s July 27 letter to the FCC seeking stronger vetting obligations for originating voice service providers and extends that position to providers that accept and route traffic further down the call path.
On August 31, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by the attorneys general (AGs) of 22 states, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging that Amazon.com, Inc. overcharged its approximately 1.2 million advertising customers by manipulating the auctions it uses to set ad prices on its platform. The complaint alleges that, for more than seven years, Amazon covertly inflated advertising prices and that the alleged practice likely extracted more than $20 billion from its advertising customers. Amazon has not responded to the complaint yet, and the allegations have not been proven in court.
On September 2, 2026, a group of tobacco product manufacturers and retailers filed a complaint in federal court, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2021 premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) rule. Plaintiffs take aim at a regulation they say has made it virtually impossible for the FDA to authorize new tobacco products within the timeline Congress set more than 15 years ago. The case raises fundamental questions about whether a federal agency can adopt a regulatory process that, by design, cannot meet its own statutory deadlines.
The alcoholic beverage industry has always been a visual business. A sun-drenched vineyard on a wine label, the amber glow of whiskey in a crystal tumbler, a frosted pint glass beading with condensation — these images are the currency of alcohol marketing. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) can generate all of them in seconds, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional photo shoot.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cigarette graphic health warning saga continues. On August 18, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. FDA, No. 25-40137, affirming the Eastern District of Texas’ order postponing the effective date of FDA’s 2020 cigarette graphic health warning rule pending a final decision on the merits. The decision delivers another significant setback for FDA’s long-running effort to require graphic images on cigarette packaging and advertisements — and provides clarity on the statutory limits of the agency’s authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA), as amended by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA).
On July 27, 2026, a bipartisan coalition of 50 state and territorial attorneys general (AGs) submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the FCC to adopt stronger “know your customer” (KYC) requirements for originating voice service providers. The coalition’s letter targets what the AGs view as inadequate due diligence on the part of providers, which may allow scammers to access U.S. telephone networks and flood consumers with illegal automated calls.
The 2026 attorney general (AG) primary season has largely come to a close, and while the November general elections will ultimately determine the partisan composition of several key offices, the enforcement agenda is already well underway. State AGs have been active across a broad range of industries and issue areas in the first half of 2026 – and the activity shows no signs of slowing. From artificial intelligence (AI) and consumer financial services to privacy, marketing, and advertising, state AGs are filling enforcement gaps left by reduced federal activity and staking out independent regulatory ground. The following is an overview of the key areas where companies should expect continued and intensified state AG scrutiny through the remainder of the year, beginning with an update on the races that will shape the enforcement landscape heading into 2027.
On July 23, 2026, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the Fair Price Protection Act, P.L.2026, c.65 (A4085/4523), into law, making New Jersey one of the first states in the nation to prohibit the use of consumers’ personal data to set individualized prices for certain products. This bill will take effect on August 1, 2027 — although a moratorium on electronic shelf labeling takes effect on February 1, 2027.
As our Tobacco + Nicotine team previously reported, FDA’s May 8, 2026 guidance (the 2026 Guidance or the Guidance) on enforcement priorities for certain unauthorized ENDS and nicotine pouch products created a path for products with pending premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to remain on the market. That Guidance is now being challenged in federal court by advocacy organizations, threatening the viability of FDA’s enforcement discretion.