FCC Expands Free Speech To Include Government Permission
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr defended his agency’s pressure campaign against ABC on Friday, establishing a modern definition of free speech under which broadcasters may express any opinion that survives federal review and does not cause President Donald Trump to reach angrily for the remote. Speaking with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Carr said broadcasters use public airwaves and must therefore operate “in the public interest,” a technical standard now measured by whether the president finishes watching a program in a good mood.
The FCC directed Disney to pursue early renewal of eight ABC station licenses, a step ABC said the agency had not required of broadcasters in more than 50 years. Carr described the departure as routine, noting that a regulatory power becomes ordinary whenever the government remembers it exists and points it at a critic. The accelerated process will allow officials to determine whether ABC remains qualified to broadcast before viewers accidentally encounter another joke, opinion or daytime panel discussion that has not been cleared by the executive branch.
ABC has accused the commission of retaliation over political programming including The View and Jimmy Kimmel Live! More than 95% of roughly 140,000 public comments supported the network, providing the FCC with overwhelming evidence that the public interest must be protected from the public. Carr stressed that the commission is not acting as “speech police,” because police generally need probable cause, written procedures and some explanation beyond the president disliking a monologue.
Trump praised the policy as a major expansion of constitutional liberty. “We have the freest press anywhere in the world because they can praise me, agree with me, or very freely explain at a license hearing why they failed to do either,” Trump said. “That is tremendous freedom, probably more freedom than the Founders wanted.” Under the new standard, ABC remains entirely free to criticize the administration, and the administration remains entirely free to decide whether ABC remains on the air. The First Amendment now guarantees every broadcaster an unrestricted right to government approval.
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