{"id":538,"date":"2015-06-11T15:42:18","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T15:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/?page_id=538"},"modified":"2026-03-15T15:08:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T15:08:55","slug":"broadcast-indecency","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/broadcast-indecency\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadcast censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brendan

Brendan “hard way” Carr, FCC chair, 2025 – 26.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n

Donald Trump’s long string of petty grievances<\/strong> against the mainstream press and traditional broadcasters has led to an unprecedented reaction — an attempt to twist the news<\/a> on behalf of his partisan political viewpoints.<\/p>\n

Led by FCC chairman Brendan Carr, the pressure began as soon as Trump was re-elected and took office in January 2026. It\u00a0 has continued throughout his presidency so far.\u00a0 One of the most interesting moments was in September, 2025, when Carr said:\u00a0 \u00a0“We can do this [censorship] the easy way or the hard way.”\u00a0 (See the video from Sept 17, 2025<\/a>).<\/p>\n

However, many of Carr and Trump’s creative legal maneuvers will not likely be upheld when eventually challenged in court, if a 9-0 Supreme Court decision in <\/span>NRA v Vullo<\/a> (2024) or longstanding First Amendment precedent<\/a> is any guide at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

——–<\/p>\n

March 14 — <\/strong>FCC chair Brendan Carr threatens to revoke broadcast licenses<\/a> over (supposedly) incorrect news items.\u00a0 This followed a Trump social media post March 14<\/a> in which the president irrationally claimed that damage reports from one minor skirmish were deliberately distorted. “Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the actual facts!” Trump wrote. “They are truly sick and demented people that have no idea the damage they cause the United States of America.”<\/p>\n

According to the NY Times: “Democratic lawmakers and free-speech watchdogs were quick to condemn Mr. Carr\u2019s threat as a violation of the First Amendment. On social media, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0it \u201cstraight out of the authoritarian playbook,\u201d while Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona\u00a0said that<\/a> \u201cwhen our nation is at war, it is critical that the press is free to report without government interference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feb 17, 2026 —<\/strong> An interview with Texas democratic candidate for senate, James Talarico, was blocked from the CBS broadcast<\/a> of the Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert under (supposedly) the Equal Time Rule.<\/p>\n

— 2025 —\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Oct 15<\/strong> – Nearly all US and foreign broadcast media refuse to accept a Pentagon censorship policy imposed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
\nSept. 17 – <\/strong>ABC network cancels Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night show at FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s request. Kimmel returned Sept. 23\u00a0with a moving\u00a0 defense of free speech<\/a>.
\nSept. 19 –<\/strong>\u00a0Judges tosses Trump\u2019s defamation lawsuit against New York Times. Trump refiles Oct 16. Very unlikely to prevail.
\nAug. 25 –<\/strong>– Trump calls for FCC to revoke broadcast network licenses<\/a>\u00a0 (even though the networks themselves are not licensed).
\nJuly 18<\/strong> – Trump sues The Wall Street Journal over Jeffrey Epstein revelations.
\nJuly 18<\/strong> – Paramount \/ CBS cancels Stephen Colbert\u2019s late night show after he calls the Trump defamation settlement “a big fat bribe.”
\nJuly 2<\/strong> — Paramount \/ CBS agrees to pay $16 million to Trump in a defamation settlement that would have been easy to win for its supposedly biased editing of an interview with Trump political rival Kamala Harris.\u00a0 In the background is a proposed merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.
\nMay 1<\/strong> – Trump and Congress slash all funding for PBS and NPR
\nApril 25<\/strong> — Justice Dept. will now investigate leaks and subpoena news reporters.<\/a>
\nFeb. 12 –\u00a0<\/strong> Trump removes the AP from White House press pool for refusing to officially rename the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America” in the AP Stylebook. The controversy is soon forgotten<\/a> and even Trump mapmakers omit the “Gulf of America” designation.
\nDecember 2024<\/strong> –\u00a0 Disney \/ ABC settles defamation lawsuit that would have been easy to win. In the background is a Paramount\u2013Warner Bros. Discovery merger with\u00a0 Disney \/ ABC.<\/p>\n

NRA v Vullo<\/a> (2024) <\/strong>is one case that will have an effect on how these fights are eventually seen. Justice Sotomayor wrote the opinion for the unanimous court:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Six decades ago, this Court held that a government entity’s “threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion” against a third party “to achieve the suppression” of disfavored speech violates the First Amendment. Today, the Court reaffirms what it said then: Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Petitioner National Rifle Association (NRA) plausibly alleges that respondent Maria Vullo did just that,” she wrote. “As superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, Vullo allegedly pressured regulated entities to help her stifle the NRA’s pro-gun advocacy by threatening enforcement actions against those entities that refused to disassociate from the NRA and other gun-promotion advocacy groups. Those allegations, if true, state a First Amendment claim.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Indecency and Obscenity\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

The Federal Communications Commission <\/strong>prohibits the broadcasting of obscene, indecent or profane words or images.\u00a0 \u00a0It defines these terms in a consumers guide in this way<\/a>:<\/p>\n