ABC says FCC waging a retaliatory campaign violating free speech rights

Amna Nawaz:

In the unprecedented suit, ABC says the commission has wielded its regulatory power to punish and pressure the network through investigations and, more recently, threats to strip local stations of their broadcast licenses.

The move is a major escalation in a long-simmering feud between the Trump administration, ABC and its parent company, Disney. The FCC is currently comprised of three commissioners, Chairman Brendan Carr and Olivia Trusty, both appointed by President Trump, and Anna Gomez, appointed by President Biden in 2023.

And Commissioner Gomez joins us now.

Commissioner, welcome back. Thanks for joining us.

Anna Gomez, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission:

Good to be with you.

Amna Nawaz:

So the suit in particular point to a decision the FCC made in April requiring eight Disney-owned local news stations to renew their broadcast licenses in some cases years before they are set to expire. Just for context, how common is it for the FCC to take that kind of step?

Anna Gomez:

It's extremely unprecedented.

Never has the FCC gone after network content by targeting all of its local broadcast stations. And it's been over a half-a-century since the FCC actually called in any license for early renewal.

Amna Nawaz:

So, in a statement, we know the FCC says it's been examining claims Disney engaged in what it calls illegal DEI discrimination for over a year. Chairman Carr told Reuters today he thinks Disney went to court to try to stop this proceeding because he says Disney is nervous.

In his words, he said: "Disney seems to be a little concerned about what the record's showing."

ABC says they have handed over thousands of documents already in compliance with this investigation. Have you, in your role, seen those? Do you believe there's any evidence that Disney is nervous about what those documents show?

Anna Gomez:

No one believes that this is about Disney's diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Clearly, this is just a pretext to go after Disney because this administration does not like the content it's seeing on Disney, and Disney has refused to bow to the intimidation and to the pressure. I'm very heartened to see Disney stand up for its First Amendment rights and its editorial decisions and filing to challenge the actions that this FCC has taken.

It's very important to note that the FCC is not the EEOC. In fact, the FCC has lost previously in court where it was told the FCC is not the EEOC, and license renewals are not proceedings that can challenge Title VII rights.

So the FCC is outside of its remit with this pretext, but it's -- clearly, it's about the content of Disney's and ABC's programs, not about this investigation.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, there's a separate probe, we should mention, into the ABC Daytime talk show "The View," and Chairman Carr was asked about these probes recently in an interview on FOX Business late last month. Take a listen to what he had to say.

Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission:

You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airways, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest. That means you can't run news distortions, broadcast hoax.

You can't be engaging in this invidious form of DEI discrimination, and so the FCC is really enforcing rules that have been on the books for a very long time.

Amna Nawaz:

Commissioner Gomez, what do you make of that argument that broadcasters, the chairman alleges, are not operating in the public interest in terms of what they broadcast?

Anna Gomez:

The FCC cannot target content based on this nebulous public interest standard.

The public interest for the FCC traditionally has been whether these broadcasters are serving their local communities. You serve your local communities when you have weather, sports, when you are talking about breaking news. That is serving your local communities.

The problem with the way this administration is banding about the term public interest is they basically use it to mean anything this administration doesn't like. We are bound by the First Amendment and by the Constitution. There is no generalized exception to the First Amendment just because you're a broadcast licensee.

Amna Nawaz:

I want to point out the FCC in different forms is looking into a number of networks, CBS, ABC, NBC, notably not into FOX. Chairman Carr has also sent a letter to the BBC about its editing of a Trump speech.

And, full disclosure, we should note that last year the FCC opened a probe into NPR, PBS, and some of their member stations, alleging they might be airing prohibited commercial ads. PBS and NPR insist they are in compliance with federal laws and regulations.

But, Chairman -- Commissioner Gomez, the fact that ABC is now suing the FCC after earlier settling with the administration for some $15 million, does this signal to you a change in tactics or a change in the landscape? Why now?

Anna Gomez:

I think what we have learned watching this administration over the last year-and-a-half is that you cannot buy peace from this administration. You only buy time. This administration demands that it be covered in the way that it wants to be covered. It demands that there would be no critics, and it will simply keep coming back.

And that is what we have seen. So I am very glad that Disney has found its courage. And it is -- it should be encouraging to all other broadcasters not to cave to this administration's pressure, but rather to support the First Amendment, the freedom of the press and viewers' rights to see and to hear editorial content of their choosing.

Amna Nawaz:

That is FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez joining us tonight.

Commissioner Gomez, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

Anna Gomez:

Thank you.