ABC accuses FCC of trying to 'license viewpoints' in latest filing - USA Today
ABC has asked a court to deny the Federal Communications Commission’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit over actions that the network says violate the First Amendment.
The FCC in April ordered the Disney-owned ABC to file license renewals ahead of schedule, saying it was investigating "possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination."
Disney and ABC sued the FCC over the matter in August, characterizing the probe as a pretext for targeting speech the Trump administration dislikes in what it described as an unconstitutional “retaliatory campaign.”
The FCC asked the court to dismiss the case in early September, arguing that the matter was outside of the district court’s jurisdiction and that ABC had not demonstrated the commission’s actions violate the First Amendment. The network, according to the commission, had “shown – at most – minimal and self-inflicted effects on speech.”
ABC’s Sept. 17 filing asked the court not to grant the FCC’s request but instead to grant its own earlier request for the court to ban the FCC from taking further action related to the early license renewal proceedings while litigation continues.
The filing said the FCC hadn’t disproven ABC’s retaliation claim and that Chairman Brendan Carr’s public statements, such as his assertion that Disney and ABC “can do this the easy way or the hard way,” demonstrate that “the purpose of the Commission’s call for early license renewal is not to investigate discrimination; it is to license viewpoints.”
ABC also called the early license renewal order a “grossly disproportionate” response to the network’s purported legal violations that “departs dramatically” from the FCC’s “typical and longstanding response to alleged noncompliance by investigation targets.”
Nearly 20 former FCC officials, including former chairmen, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in support of ABC on Sept. 17. The filing said the individuals “have watched with growing alarm as the agency they once stewarded has unleashed a wide-ranging campaign of threats and retaliation to bring an independent press to heel.”
Several organizations, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship and PEN America, also submitted a joint brief that said “immediate intervention” from the court is “vital to halt this gross misuse of executive power.”
But the FCC also has its supporters in the ongoing conflict. America First Legal, a nonprofit law firm co-founded by White House adviser Stephen Miller, said in a Sept. 16 legal filing that ABC “chose to break” the FCC’s broadcast rules and thus “risked the very investigation and potential consequences they now face.” Both the Center for American Rights and the Media Research Center have also previously filed petitions accusing ABC of political bias and failing to operate in the public interest.
In addition to the early license renewal proceeding, the FCC has an ongoing inquiry into ABC related to the agency’s equal time rules. The network accused the FCC of "chilling speech ahead of the fast-approaching 2026 general election" in a legal filing on the matter in July.
Experts previously told USA TODAY there is a long history of tension between the FCC and broadcasters but characterized ABC's ongoing legal fight against President Donald Trump's FCC as an unprecedented conflict.
USA TODAY reached out to the FCC for comment.
BrieAnna Frank's role covering First Amendment issues at USA TODAY is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input. Reach BrieAnna at bjfrank@usatoday.com and @brieannafrank on X and Bluesky.
