Disney sues Trump admin in First Amendment claim over broadcast licenses

Disney and ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday, claiming its demand for an early review of its broadcast licenses is a First Amendment violation – escalating an ongoing battle between legacy media outlets and the Trump administration.

The dispute centers around an April demand by the FCC that ordered eight Disney-owned stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule, citing the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices as the reason for its review.

“‘The FCC has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination,’” the FCC noted, adding that it’s been investigating “whether Disney’s ABC engaged in prohibited practices by hiring, promoting, compensating, and/or providing workplace opportunities to people based on race, gender, or other protected characteristics in violation of federal nondiscrimination laws.”

The FCC determined that early renewal for Disney’s ABC licenses was “necessary to the proper conduct of that ongoing investigation,” it added.

“Calling the licenses in now for early renewal also provides the FCC the opportunity to determine whether the ABC Stations have been operating in the public interest, as required by their FCC licenses. As trustees of the nation’s airwaves, broadcasters must operate in the public interest and, among other requirements, must maintain the character to hold a broadcast license.”

The FCC did not immediately return Heartlander News’ request for comment about the lawsuit.

ABC’s lawsuit said the FCC’s actions posed an “existential threat” to its company and left it “no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration’s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech.”

“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the complaint provided to Heartlander News reads. “Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech – the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air.  Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

ABC cast its lawsuit as the face of a much broader fight between journalists and the Trump administration. 

“ABC is the visible target and suffers the most immediate harm, but the message is addressed to every broadcaster in the country, and the ultimate cost is borne by the press as a whole,” the complaint noted. “Other news organizations throughout the country are also watching and waiting to see the extent to which ABC and the Stations will be punished, as promised, for coverage that the Administration has deemed unfavorable—because if it happens to ABC, they could be next.”