Competitive Enterprise Institute: FCC Should Abolish News Distortion Rules
The FCC should abolish its news distortion rules, said Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow Brian Rankin in an online essay Wednesday. “Like the fairness doctrine before it, this regulation chokes crucial news and information. In this time of political polarization, it is being used as a weapon to inhibit speech that is critical of those in power or expresses contrary views.” The Communications Act expressly states that it doesn’t give the FCC the power to censor or interfere with free speech, he noted. “Regulating the content of a few voices because they have licenses tilts the regulatory playing field and fails to recognize today’s wide array of sources for news and information.”
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The FCC’s interpretation of broadcaster public interest obligations “should reflect Congress’s clear prohibition on regulating or conditioning speech,” Rankin added. “Whether a news organization is biased is in the eye of the beholder and is not a determination for the FCC. And if a news organization is biased, it has a First Amendment right to be so whether it has a broadcast license or not.”