Disney And Abc Filed A First Amendment Lawsuit Against The Fcc

Disney channeled the wrath of a child told they can’t have a fourth Mickey-shaped churro waffle and sued the federal government yesterday. Disney-owned ABC, along with eight of its stations, filed a First Amendment lawsuit against President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), alleging that the agency is illegally punishing the company over editorial coverage that Trump and his administration have tried to stifle.

The 46-page complaint details numerous accusations that the FCC is attempting to control the network and its content through regulatory threats.

It comes a few months after the agency requested that Disney renew some of its stations’ broadcast licenses early—something the FCC hasn’t done in nearly 50 years. The FCC claims it is looking into the broadcast company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program, while Disney’s lawsuit alleges that the agency is trying to clamp down on content that Trump doesn’t like:

• Last year, Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr briefly succeeded in having Jimmy Kimmel Live! taken off the air after the comedian made a comment about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
• Following the ordeal, President Trump threatened to delicense TV networks that were critical of him. He also called on NBC to cancel Jimmy Fallon’s and Seth Meyers’ respective late-night shows.

A roundtable of complaints. ABC claims that the FCC is also targeting The View: After the daytime talk show invited on Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, Carr opened an investigation into the program, asserting that it did not qualify for an exemption from the agency’s “equal opportunities” rule, which requires most non-news broadcasts to offer equal time to competing political candidates.

The FCC argued in a statement yesterday that Disney is engaging in an “ongoing campaign of disinformation.” ABC, meanwhile, called the FCC’s actions an “existential threat” to its work.

Disney is not alone. The company’s allegations mirror complaints from law firms, universities, and some individuals who say that the administration is targeting them over protected speech. The White House has denied doing so.—MM

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