ABC has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the agency of carrying out a “retaliatory campaign” against the network because government officials disapprove of its broadcasts.
The lawsuit, filed early Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., alleges that President Donald Trump’s administration has used the FCC to retaliate against ABC, violating the network’s First Amendment rights.
“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the lawsuit states, according to Deadline.
The legal battle follows a series of actions taken by the FCC involving ABC and its programming.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced in February that he had launched “enforcement proceedings” involving ABC’s daytime talk show “The View.” The proceedings centered on potential violations of the FCC’s “equal time” guideline.
The scrutiny continued in April when the FCC announced an investigation into Disney, ABC and its subsidiaries.
According to the agency, the investigation was examining “possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”
That announcement came immediately after ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump, referring to her as an “expectant widow.”
ABC has pushed back aggressively against the FCC’s actions, previously accusing the agency of attempting to interfere with the network’s protected speech.
In a July court filing, ABC accused the FCC of “attempted censorship,” arguing that the government’s actions extended beyond a dispute involving one television network and could send a broader message to media companies across the country.
“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” ABC said in that filing.
The network has now escalated that fight by bringing a First Amendment lawsuit directly against the FCC.
At the center of ABC’s case is its claim that the administration is using the federal communications regulator to punish the network over content government officials dislike.
ABC’s lawsuit characterizes the FCC’s actions as retaliation based specifically on the network’s broadcasts, arguing that the campaign violates constitutional protections afforded to the media.
The dispute follows months of tension between ABC and the FCC, beginning with the February proceedings involving “The View,” followed by the April investigation involving Disney, ABC and its subsidiaries.
ABC responded in July by accusing the commission of attempted censorship and warning that the government’s actions could have consequences reaching far beyond the network itself.
Now, with its lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, ABC is asking the judiciary to weigh in on what the network describes as an unconstitutional campaign of government retaliation over its programming.
