FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez expressed support for ABC and Disney’s lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission. The companies claim the lawsuit addresses retaliation over the network’s news coverage and programming.
Gomez discussed the issue in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition on Wednesday. She stated, “Disney has found its courage, and it is pushing back. And this is good. It’s good for the First Amendment. It’s good for the public, and it’s good for broadcasters in general.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr insisted that the agency is following its mandate to ensure broadcasters serve the public interest. During an interview with NPR’s David Folkenflik, Carr mentioned that Disney and ABC may be overreacting, as the FCC had not decided on renewing the licenses of eight ABC stations.
Gomez disagreed with Carr’s stance, arguing that the public interest standard might be improperly used to censor disliked content. She emphasized that her criticism is not about partisanship, noting that former Republican FCC leaders and Republican senators Ted Cruz and John Kennedy have also raised First Amendment concerns.
“Protecting the First Amendment is not a partisan issue,” Gomez stated. “There is bipartisan support for respecting the First Amendment.”
For more insights, listen to the full interview by using the embedded player above. The digital version was written by Majd Al-Waheidi and edited by Treye Green.
Editor’s note: Disney is a financial supporter of NPR.
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