The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has targeted eight local ABC television stations, prompting a significant amount of public support for the network. According to ABC, the reason for this support is clear: supporters across the ideological spectrum share a fundamental commitment to free speech and press freedom.

FCC’s Challenge to ABC’s Station Licenses

The FCC’s challenge to ABC’s station licenses has been met with criticism from both Democratic and Republican former FCC officials, who argue that the agency is trying to censor Disney’s and ABC’s speech and send a chilling message to all broadcasters. The commission’s sole Democrat, Anna Gomez, has also issued warnings, stating that a small number of partisan voices have tried to hijack the license process into a referendum on a network they dislike.

ABC has urged the FCC to drop its politically motivated challenge to the eight station licenses. The network has argued that the FCC’s actions are unnecessary, premature, and punitive, and that the agency has well-established remedies far short of the corporate death penalty of license non-renewal.

The public comment period for the FCC’s proceeding against the eight stations has generated over 150,000 comments, with passionate defenses of local TV and the First Amendment, along with criticism of the Trump administration. Hundreds of the comments have called out FCC chair Brendan Carr by name.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.