First Amendment advocates blast the FCC's early review of ABC broadcast licenses

Free speech advocates sounded the alarm Tuesday over the Federal Communications Commission’s challenge to ABC’s broadcast licenses.

Free speech advocates sounded the alarm Tuesday over the Federal Communications Commission’s challenge to ABC’s broadcast licenses, with some decrying the move as a threat to the First Amendment and a clear example of federal overreach.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

“The FCC is neither the journalism police nor the humor police. This is nothing but illegal jawboning intended to intimidate ABC into kissing the ring,” said Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit group.

The FCC, the federal agency that regulates the broadcast television industry, announced Tuesday it would launch an early review of the eight station licenses owned by ABC, a unit of the Disney media empire.