Disney FCC fight draws ACLU and free-speech groups to its side
The ACLU and 21 other groups urged Disney to publicly resist FCC pressure over station renewals and scrutiny of The View.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Disney’s FCC fight has picked up a chorus of outside support, with the ACLU and 21 other advocacy groups urging the company to push back publicly against pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, Variety reported.
The groups sent a letter to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro saying the company should keep defending its First Amendment rights. Signers include the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and TechFreedom, according to Variety.
“We urge you to continue to defend and exercise your First Amendment rights, so that we can all continue to exercise ours,” the letter says, according to the report.
Why are advocacy groups backing Disney in the FCC fight?
The dispute centers on federal pressure aimed at Disney’s broadcast operations and programming, as described by Variety. The FCC, chaired by Brendan Carr, ordered Disney to seek license renewals for eight stations years earlier than their normal timetable.
Disney said in regulatory filings that it made those applications “under protest in response to an unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional order,” according to Variety.
The groups’ message to Disney is that a fight over the company’s speech rights is also a fight over the public’s access to news, commentary and entertainment that officials may dislike. Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel for the ACLU, told Variety that press freedom is central to a functioning democracy.
Leventoff said the organizations wanted Disney to understand that “when you’re standing up for yourself, you are standing up for all of us,” Variety reported.
What is happening with The View?
Disney’s ABC daytime show “The View” has also drawn FCC attention, Variety reported. The commission has examined whether the program ran afoul of so-called equal-time election rules after James Talarico, a Democratic Senate candidate from Texas, appeared on the show in February.
Equal-time rules generally concern broadcast treatment of political candidates. In January, the FCC issued guidance saying late-night and daytime hosts needed to provide equal time to political candidates from different parties, while claiming those programs might be operating along partisan lines, according to Variety.
“The View” has leaned into political conversation in recent years, making it a frequent flashpoint in broader fights over media, government power and partisan speech.
What does the letter ask Disney to do?
The letter argues that Disney should go beyond formal replies to regulators. “Meaningfully fighting back requires more than strongly worded regulatory filings,” the groups wrote, according to Variety.
The organizations urged Disney to tell the public that the government is violating the First Amendment. The letter also points to public reaction around an alleged effort to push Jimmy Kimmel off the air, saying viewers stood with Disney then and that Disney now has a chance to stand with the public.
Other organizations listed as signatories include Fall of Freedom, Issue One, PEN America, People for the American Way, LGBT Tech, The Media and Democracy Project, The Trevor Project, The Tully Center for Free Speech and UnidosUS, Variety reported.
The letter frames the Disney fight as bigger than one company, one show or one regulator. Its core warning is that government pressure on media companies can chill speech for viewers as well as broadcasters.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.