The American Civil Liberties Union submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FCC for records pertaining to the agency’s decision to require Disney’s eight owned-and-operated ABC stations to renew their broadcast licenses early.
“[T]his Request concerns whether the government is using its authority to illegally retaliate against broadcasters for saying something the government dislikes, and whether it is attempting to chill protected speech,” the ACLU said in the FOIA request, filed Tuesday. “The publicly released information about why the FCC is asking 8 ABC stations to renew their broadcast licenses early does not seem credible in context, and information about the FCC’s true motivations is not available publicly.”
The FCC in April called for the early review of broadcast licenses for ABC’s eight local TV stations. The agency has said that’s related to holding Disney/ABC accountable to a “public interest” standard and that the review is pursuant to an FCC probe into the media company’s DEI practices. ABC and other critics — including former FCC chairs — have blasted the move as aimed at intimidating broadcasters whose news coverage Trump does not like. In addition, the FCC has initiated a formal review of whether “The View” qualifies for an exemption to the agency’s equal-time rules for political candidates.
