Eight ABC-owned broadcast stations filed an early license renewal petition yesterday in protest, accusing the Federal Communications Commission of trying to stifle speech in an “unprecedented attack on one company’s entire portfolio of broadcast licenses.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of President Trump’s least favorite networks. He recently Ordered by Disney-owned ABC filing early license renewal applications for all television stations due to allegations that their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices violated anti-discrimination regulations.
“The only reasonable reason for issuing the order is to punish the Station for speech the government disapproves of,” ABC said in its filing. The FCC is “using the license renewal process to punish a broadcaster for its editorial choices,” an “unusual show of force and coercion aimed at negative editorial voices,” it says.
