FCC Slammed by Former Agency Officials Over Review of ABC’s Licenses: ‘An Assault on Free Speech Disguised as Regulatory Process’

By Todd Spangler

Todd Spangler

NY Digital Editor

Latest

• FCC Slammed by Former Agency Officials Over Review of ABC’s Licenses: ‘An Assault on Free Speech Disguised as Regulatory Process’ 60 minutes ago
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The FCC and its current chairman, Brendan Carr, were blasted by former heads of the agency and other officials as pursuing a campaign to “censor Disney‘s and ABC‘s speech” with its highly unusual early review of spectrum licenses for eight ABC-owned TV stations.

In a filing Tuesday with the FCC, the officials — who served under Republican and Democratic presidents — urged the current agency leadership to terminate the proceeding. In April, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued an unprecedented order forcing ABC to reapply for spectrum licenses for its owned-and-operated stations on an accelerated schedule. The move came one day after President Donald Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke the late-night host made about First Lady Melania Trump (Kimmel said Melania had “a glow like an expectant widow”).

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