Today, TechFreedom and Protect Democracy filed a petition asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to repeal its news distortion policy. The petition was signed by seven former FCC chairs and commissioners from both parties, as well as other former senior FCC officials. The policy violates the First Amendment: it allows the government to influence broadcasters’ speech, chill editorial freedom, and weaponize vague standards to punish disfavored viewpoints.

“The news distortion policy is the most dangerous tool the FCC has,” warned Berin Szóka, President of TechFreedom. “Under the previous administration, the FCC rightly dismissed news distortion complaints. Just days after assuming office, and with no explanation, Chairman Brendan Carr reopened only those complaints about content Trump disliked, leaving undisturbed the dismissal of a Fox petition alleging distortion in Trump’s favor. Most egregiously, Carr threatened ABC with allegations of news distortion over comments made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.”

“The Supreme Court has been clear: the First Amendment bars the government from determining the right balance of private expression,” continued Szóka. “Last term, in Moody v. NetChoice, the Court reaffirmed that the government has no role in ‘un-biasing’ the media. Yet Carr keeps invoking the news distortion policy to mold the speech of private broadcasters to the FCC’s own view of balance. Of course Carr knows better: he himself once said the FCC has no mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.’”

“Carr’s threats have worked despite their unconstitutionality because the FCC has extraordinarily vast leverage over broadcasters,” concluded Szóka. “His threats to Disney and ABC were so clumsy, so thuggish, that even his fellow Republican, Sen. Ted Cruz, compared his tactics to a ‘mafioso, … right out of Goodfellas.’ Critical speech has been, and will be, chilled. Disney bent, even if it didn’t break. Fearing retaliation, many comedians and journalists will self-censor—or their corporate employers will muzzle them. Sadly, because broadcasters have so much to lose, we can’t wait for someone to challenge the FCC in court. The FCC needs to end the policy now, lest it continue to be a tool for extortion.”

Click here for Protect Democracy’s announcement.

Click here or see below for the full petition:

News-Distortion-Petition-for-Special-ReliefDownload

Read this petition on our website and share it on Twitter and Bluesky. We can be reached for comment at media@techfreedom.org. Read our related work, including:

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TechFreedom is a nonprofit, nonpartisan technology policy think tank. We work to chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology.

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