{"id":2646452,"date":"2026-08-18T11:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disney-and-abc-sue-fcc-on-first-amendment-grounds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T11:15:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:15:01","slug":"disney-and-abc-sue-fcc-on-first-amendment-grounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disney-and-abc-sue-fcc-on-first-amendment-grounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney and ABC sue FCC on First Amendment grounds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdisney-and-abc-sue-fcc-on-first-amendment-grounds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2646452&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Disney and ABC have filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC,challenging an order that required them to submit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-strikes-down-biden-era-fcc-digital-equity-rules\/\" title=\"Appeals court strikes down Biden-era ... &#039;digital equity&#039; rules\">early license renewal applications<\/a> for their eight broadcast television stations. The FCC, led by chairman Brendan carr, issued this order years ahead of the usual schedule, following investigations into Disney\u2019s diversity and inclusion initiatives and ABC\u2019s show &#8220;The View.&#8221; The plaintiffs argue the order was unprecedented, rushed, and targeted without proper precedent, claiming it was part of a retaliatory campaign linked to political criticisms, including a joke made by Jimmy Kimmel about the First Lady and subsequent political reactions to ABC\u2019s coverage of President Trump\u2019s speech. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the FCC from taking action against Disney and ABC regarding these early renewals, emphasizing that the order was unjustified and politically motivated. Disney&#8217;s CEO has publicly affirmed the company&#8217;s commitment to journalistic integrity and resistance to governmental pressure. The case highlights ongoing tensions between media companies and federal regulators.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/disney\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"2953\">Disney<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/abc\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"622\">ABC<\/a> filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/federal-communications-commission\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"1637\">Federal Communications Commission<\/a> on Tuesday over the federal agency\u2019s order requiring the network to file an early license renewal request for all eight of its broadcast television stations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, issued the order years ahead of the normal schedule for license renewals. The commission has been investigating Disney\u2019s alleged use of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dei\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"3088\">diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a> initiatives, while simultaneously probing ABC\u2019s morning talk show <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/the-view\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"569\">The View<\/a><\/em>  over a separate matter.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4690869\/disney-abc-sue-fcc-license-review\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Disney and ABC sue FCC on First Amendment grounds over early license review<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4690854\/appeals-court-sigal-chattah-nevada-attorney\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Appeals court rules Nevada\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-rules-nevadas-top-federal-prosecutor-illegally-holds-office\/\" title=\"Appeals court rules Nevada\u2019s top federal prosecutor illegally holds office\">top federal prosecutor illegally holds office<\/a> over lack of Senate confirmation<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4690825\/doj-send-1000-poll-monitor-midterm\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>DOJ plans to send 1,000 poll monitors to watch midterm elections<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The plaintiffs claim the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"339\">Trump administration<\/a> is waging a \u201cretaliatory campaign\u201d against the Disney-owned company because \u201cit disapproves of what ABC broadcasts\u201d to the public.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Commission issued an unprecedented order requiring the Stations to file early applications to renew their licenses\u2014years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal in the ordinary course and allowing only thirty days to file applications which ordinarily take months to prepare,\u201d the plaintiffs\u2019 attorneys wrote in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.295648\/gov.uscourts.dcd.295648.1.0_1.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.295648\/gov.uscourts.dcd.295648.1.0_1.pdf\">civil complaint<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUntil the day before that order issued, the Commission had not called for a renewal application ahead of schedule in more than half a century,\u201d they continued. \u201cNor had it ever demanded simultaneous early renewal applications from a group of stations commonly owned with a single broadcast network\u2014much less stations with the record of public service and award-winning journalism like these Stations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The federal lawsuit, filed in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-dc\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"260\">District of Columbia<\/a>, seeks to halt the FCC from \u201ctaking or threatening to take any action\u201d against Disney and ABC broadcast television stations regarding the early license renewal applications.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPlaintiffs come to this Court reluctantly with no alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the Administration\u2019s demands,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carr ramped up his scrutiny of ABC after President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a> criticized late-night show host <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jimmy-kimmel\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"570\">Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> for making a joke about the first lady in relation to the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association dinner shooting in late April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chairman denied that the agency\u2019s decision to require an early license review of ABC was linked to Kimmel\u2019s joke, even though the inquiry started shortly after Trump and his wife called on ABC and Disney to take the comedian off the air.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, Carr said the FCC would factor ABC\u2019s decision not to air Trump\u2019s primetime address from the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"8767\">White House<\/a> on election fraud into the agency\u2019s review of the network\u2019s broadcast licenses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though it did not broadcast the president\u2019s speech on broadcast television, ABC said it opted to put the address live on its streaming platforms and \u201cair special reports analyzing the address\u201d following the speech instead. The network noted there is no federal law that \u201crequired broadcasters to carry the address live\u201d at all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuit lists Carr, Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez, and Republican commissioner Olivia Trusty as defendants. \u201cJohn Does 1-2\u201d are also defendants because there are two vacant seats on the commission. Trump recently nominated Danielle Thumann Severs, senior counsel to Carr, as the third Republican commissioner on the five-member panel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4618670\/abc-anti-fcc-ad-campaign-the-view-investigation\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4618670\/abc-anti-fcc-ad-campaign-the-view-investigation\/\">ABC AIRS ANTI-FCC AD CAMPAIGN ON THE VIEW AS AGENCY INVESTIGATES TALK SHOW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The complaint dropped days after Disney CEO Josh D\u2019Amaro indicated that the company would not capitulate to the FCC\u2019s threats against its journalism business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur position on this is clear,\u201d D\u2019Amaro told CNBC at D23 on Friday. \u201cWe\u2019re very principled on this. We\u2019re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic integrity. And we\u2019re not going to be told how to run that side of our business. Our filings, I think, speak for that. I like what we do. We tell incredible stories. I think we do it well. We do it around the world. And we\u2019re going to stay committed to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disney and ABC sue FCC over early license renewal order<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2646453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26079605936631.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7261,6344,16609],"class_list":["post-2646452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-abc","tag-disney","tag-fcc"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26079605936631.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646452"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2646460,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646452\/revisions\/2646460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}