The Walt Disney Company's ABC is accusing the Federal Communications Commission of attempting to censor the network after the agency called several of its local stations for early license renewal. In a filing Thursday, ABC argued that the FCC's action has drawn condemnation across party lines and defended the public service its stations provide.
“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration's view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the network said in the filing. “Across the government, regulatory and contracting carrots and sticks have been trained on other disfavored speakers.”
The network added, “The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr has questioned whether programs like “The View” qualify as “bona fide news programs,” which enjoy specific First Amendment protections under federal law. The commission earlier this year moved to renew licenses for several ABC affiliates ahead of schedule, a step the network called “unprecedented, beyond the Commission's authority, and counterproductive to the Commission's stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion.”
ABC previously urged its viewers to submit public comments during the renewal process, defending its programming. The FCC is also investigating Disney's corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, a separate probe that has heightened tensions between the network and the regulator.
Carr has repeatedly argued that broadcasters using public airwaves must serve the “public interest.” But ABC contends that even if violations were found, the FCC has a range of lesser penalties short of license non-renewal. “That the agency reached first for the most extreme sanction in its arsenal, before making any finding at all, reveals its true objective: to chill not only ABC, but every broadcaster watching,” the network stated.
The filing comes amid broader debates over media regulation and free speech. In a related matter, a federal judge blocked a DOJ bid for unredacted New Jersey voter rolls, citing privacy concerns. The FCC did not return a request for comment on ABC's allegations.
ABC's pushback underscores a growing rift between the Trump-aligned FCC leadership and major media outlets, with the network warning that the commission's actions could have a chilling effect on journalism nationwide.
