Disney Sues Trump Administration's FCC Over Broadcast Licenses
Lawsuit alleges retaliatory campaign against ABC for content, following early review of eight local broadcast licenses.
Callum Smith
Disney filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.
The legal action follows an early review of eight ABC local broadcast licenses, initiated by the FCC in April.
Disney's ABC lawsuit claims the administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.
The media company states the FCC violates its First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
ABC asserts the agency's actions against ABC represent a brazen attempt to chill its constitutionally protected free speech, extending to every media outlet in the country.
ABC indicated that The agency's actions against ABC represent a brazen attempt to chill its constitutionally protected free speech, extending to every media outlet in the country.
ABC claims the Administration has attacked its speech and escalated into demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.
The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of utilizing regulatory actions to retaliate against the network and suppress free speech, ABC claims.
A group of prominent former FCC officials reportedly claims the FCC tries to send a “chilling message” to broadcasters after forcing ABC to apply early.
Brendan Carr, however, claims the FCC merely tries to restore the standard that broadcasters have a duty to operate in the public interest.
The Center for American Rights and the Media Research Center claim the network’s journalism was politically biased.
Donald Trump previously demanded the firing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, providing a backdrop to the current dispute.
ABC maintains it is being retaliated against by the FCC for content-based reasons, directly contradicting the FCC's stated rationale.