FCC chair makes one last stand against Trump’s call to punish news stations

Taking action in the final days of the Biden administration, the Federal Communications Commission dismissed three complaints and a petition filed against broadcast television stations. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the action is important because "the incoming President has called on the Federal Communications Commission to revoke licenses for broadcast television stations because he disagrees with their content and coverage."

"Today, I have directed the FCC to take a stand on behalf of the First Amendment," she said. "We draw a bright line at a moment when clarity about government interference with the free press is needed more than ever. The action we take makes clear two things. First, the FCC should not be the president's speech police. Second, the FCC should not be journalism's censor-in-chief."

President-elect Donald Trump's chosen replacement for Rosenworcel, Commissioner Brendan Carr, wants the FCC to punish news broadcasters that he perceives as being unfair to Trump or Republicans in general. Backing Trump's various complaints about news stations, Carr has threatened to revoke licenses by wielding the FCC's authority to ensure that broadcasters using public airwaves operate in the public interest.

Rosenworcel said the complaints and petition she is dismissing "come from all corners—right and left—but what they have in common is they ask the FCC to penalize broadcast television stations because they dislike station behavior, content, or coverage." After Trump criticized CBS in October, Rosenworcel said the agency "does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage."

Chair: Complaints aim to “weaponize” FCC authority

The Center for American Rights filed complaints supporting Trump's claims of bias regarding ABC's fact-checking during a presidential debate, the editing of a CBS 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, and NBC putting Harris on a Saturday Night Live episode. Separately, the Media and Democracy Project filed a petition to deny a license renewal for WTXF-TV in Philadelphia, a station owned and operated by Fox, alleging that Fox willfully distorted news with false reports of fraud in the 2020 election that Trump lost.

Rejecting all four, Rosenworcel said "the facts and legal circumstances in each of these cases are different. But what they share is that they seek to weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment. To do so would set a dangerous precedent. That is why we reject it here."

Dismissing complaints isn't likely to end the cases, said Jeffrey Westling, a lawyer at the conservative American Action Forum who has urged Congress to "limit or revoke the FCC's authority to impose content-based restrictions on broadcast television."

Westling said he agrees "substantively" with Rosenworcel, but added that "the DC Circuit Court has made clear that the FCC has to consider news distortion complaints (see Serafyn vs FCC) and not just dismiss them outright. If I am the complainants, I challenge these dismissals in court, win, and get more attention."

When contacted by Ars today, the Center for American Rights provided a statement criticizing Rosenworcel's decision as "political and self-serving."

"We fundamentally believe that several actions taken by the three major networks were partisan, dishonest and designed to support Vice President Harris in her bid to become President," the group said. "We will continue to pursue avenues to ensure the American public is protected from media manipulation of our Republic. The First Amendment does not protect intentional misrepresentation or fraud."

The group previously touted the fact that Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington urged FCC leadership to take its complaints seriously.

Fox ruling will be challenged

The Media and Democracy Project criticized Rosenworcel's decision to dismiss its complaint against the Fox station in Philadelphia.

"We look forward to presenting on appeal the multiple court decisions that raise serious questions about the Murdochs' and Fox's character qualifications to remain broadcast licensees," the Media and Democracy Project said in a statement provided to Ars. "As renowned First Amendment scholar Floyd Abrams stated in his filing with the Commission, the First Amendment is no bar to Commission action given the facts of this case. Our petition is clearly distinct from the other politically motivated complaints."

The group's petition pointed to a court ruling that found Fox News aired false statements about Dominion Voting Systems. Fox later agreed to pay Dominion $788 million to settle a defamation lawsuit.

"Our Petition to Deny is based on judicial findings that Fox made repeated false statements that undermined the electoral process and resulted in property damage, injury, and death; that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch engaged in a 'carefully crafted scheme' in 'bad faith' to deprive Lachlan's siblings of the control to which they are entitled under an irrevocable trust; and that 'Murdoch knowingly caused the corporation to violate the law,'" the Media and Democracy Project said today.

The FCC order denying the petition also granted the station's application for a license renewal. The order said the allegations regarding "material carried on a cable network under common control with the Licensee that a state court found to be false" aren't grounds to deny the individual station's license renewal. While some "non-FCC-related misconduct" can be considered by the FCC in an evaluation of a licensee's character, the finding in the defamation suit doesn't qualify, the order said.

Former FCC official objects

Gigi Sohn, a longtime advocate whose nomination to the FCC was rejected by the Senate, also criticized the FCC today. Sohn, who also served as counselor for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler during the Obama administration, called the dismissal of the Fox petition a "failure to lead."

"As [Rosenworcel] herself points out, the facts of these petitions are very different," Sohn wrote. "The [Media and Democracy Project] petition seeks a hearing on Fox Philadelphia licenses because they allege that Fox lacks the character to hold them because it lied to the American people about the 2020 election. The conservative complaints are all based on disagreements with editorial judgments of the various broadcast networks."