Disney lawyers accuse Trump administration of censorship in court — The Guardian

In the United States, Disney lawyers said during the first court hearing in the case against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that President Donald Trump’s administration had resorted to censorship and violated the Constitution. According to The Guardian, the dispute concerns the regulator’s demand for early submission of renewal applications for the licenses of eight local ABC network television stations.

ABC, Disney and a group of television stations filed a lawsuit against the FCC in August. They are seeking to prevent the regulator from taking further action regarding the licenses. The companies argue that the requirement to submit renewal applications several years earlier than the usual deadline is intended to pressure ABC’s editorial decisions.

ABC’s position

ABC representative Beth Wilkinson said that the FCC’s actions are already affecting the network’s editorial policy. According to her, ABC stopped inviting politicians to the daytime talk show The View, and placed Trump’s July appearance on a streaming platform rather than broadcasting it on television in order not to provoke the president’s displeasure.

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Wilkinson also said that ABC decided to publish Jimmy Kimmel’s interview with Texas Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate James Talarico on YouTube because the FCC does not regulate that platform. In the lawsuit, ABC cited previous threats by Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr concerning television licenses in connection with editorial content.

FCC arguments

Dimitar P. Georgiev, representing the FCC defendants, denied that the requirement for early license renewal caused changes in ABC’s editorial decisions. He also said that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is not the proper venue for the case, as ABC can appeal an unfavorable decision in an appellate court.

Georgiev explained that the license renewal procedure is a tool for accelerating an investigation into ABC over possible violations of federal equal employment opportunity rules. Judge Loren AliKhan asked why the FCC required renewal applications for all eight stations to be submitted simultaneously, and what other measures the regulator could have taken. After the hearing, she did not issue a ruling, saying she would consider the case.