Disney accuses Trump's FCC of attempting to 'suppress speech' with license renewal investigation
Disney and ABC attacked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday for attempting to "suppress speech" through its early license renewal order for local stations.
In a license renewal application for WABC-TV in New York, the company noted that the process was done "under protest in response to an unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional" order given by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last month.
Though Carr has claimed the order was done as part of an ongoing investigation into Disney's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, Disney and ABC maintained that it was meant to stifle broadcast stations through bureaucracy.
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"The Order is inconsistent with a legitimate exercise of investigative authority and is plainly incompatible with the First Amendment," the filing said. "Worse, the Order opens the door to an assault on the Station’s license, while the Commission searches for a legal pretext to achieve its desired goal. This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail."
The filing cited Trump administration officials, including Carr, repeatedly attacking ABC as evidence that the early renewal order, despite the Disney-owned stations' licenses not being up for several years, was a targeted coercion effort.
"Simultaneously forcing every station in a media company’s portfolio to file premature license renewal applications is not a regulatory tool. It is an extraordinary demonstration of power and coercion directed at disfavored editorial voices, which sends a clear warning to every broadcaster in America. This is a threat to the First Amendment that this Commission and this proceeding must not be permitted to normalize," the filing read.
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The company also referenced FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez's letter to Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro earlier this month accusing the Trump administration of launching a "censorship" campaign against ABC.
"The ultimate injury here is not to the Station or its parent company. It is to the public. When a broadcaster must weigh regulatory retaliation before making editorial decisions, the public loses access to journalism that is free from government influence. The Order—both on its own terms and as a signal to other broadcasters—advances exactly that result. A press that edits itself to avoid government displeasure is not a free press. The Commission should not be the instrument of that outcome," the filing read.
In an X post, Carr pushed back against the allegations that the FCC ordered early license renewals "for no reason" or to suppress speech.
"The FCC has been investigating Disney for over a year now after reports surfaced alleging that it had been discriminating against people based on race, gender, or other protected characteristics in violation of federal nondiscrimination laws," Carr wrote.
He continued, "The allegations include concerns about Disney hiring, promoting, compensating, and providing or denying workplace opportunities based on protected characteristics. Disney only filed these applications to renew their ABC broadcast licenses after the FCC informed the company that their responses to the agency's investigation had been disingenuous, deficient, and improper."
In a comment to Fox News Digital, Carr added, "If Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination, if it failed to operate its ABC broadcast stations in the public interest as required by their FCC licenses, they will be held accountable."
Carr ordered eight Disney-owned ABC affiliates to file for early license renewal to prove that they have been operating in the public interest. The order came after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke referring to first lady Melania Trump as an "expectant widow" just days before an armed assailant stormed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.