Disney Sues FCC, Alleging Trump Administration Free Speech Retaliation
Disney-owned ABC filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, calling the U.S. government agency’s investigations into them a “retaliatory campaign” by the Trump Administration to curb the network’s free speech. ABC and the Trump Administration have been at odds for close to a year over coverage critical of the President.
Last September, ABC infamously suspended talk show host Jimmy Kimmel after pressure from the FCC, but Disney put Kimmel back on the air following public backlash. Nevertheless, station owners Sinclair and Nexstar briefly refused to air Kimmel’s show on several regional affiliates after its suspension was lifted. The FCC has also launched an investigation into ABC’s morning talk show The View over a perceived violation of the Equal Time Rule.
The situation reached a critical point in April when the FCC launched an early review of the broadcast licenses of eight ABC television stations years before they were up for renewal. At the time, the FCC said its investigation was over concerns about the legality of ABC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr then said in July that ABC’s decision not to carry a presidential address in June would also be part of the license review process.
“There are more than 200 ABC-affiliated stations across the U.S., but most are owned by other companies. Eight are owned by Disney directly, and those are the stations targeted by the FCC,” CNN explains. “FCC licenses are renewed every eight years and are virtually never revoked. Until this year, the FCC had not filed an early-renewal order in decades.”
As part of this lawsuit, ABC seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the FCC’s early renewal process, which they characterize as an “existential threat” to the network’s business.
“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the lawsuit stated (via Deadline).
ABC’s lawyers argue there was “no alternative means [other than to file suit] to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the administration’s demands.”
“The Commission’s true target is not the Stations’ employment practices or their carriage of a single presidential address; it is the content of Plaintiffs’ programming—and thus their speech,” the lawsuit alleges. “Because the Commission cannot regulate that content directly, it has used its review of the Stations’ licenses as an instrument to the same end.”
An FCC spokesperson responded to the lawsuit with the following statement: “Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead.”
Last week, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro addressed the company’s filings against the FCC in an interview with CNBC: “We’re very principled on this. We’re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic and integrity, and we’re not going to be told how to run that side of our business.”
Last September, Carr said on a podcast that ABC “can do this the easy way or the hard way” in how they dealt with Kimmel after the host made a joke about the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Jim Vejvoda (he/him) is IGN's Sr. Manager, Entertainment Content Partnerships.