The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records related to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to require eight ABC-owned television stations to renew their broadcast licenses early. The ACLU questioned whether the stated concerns about unlawful discrimination were the actual reason for the accelerated renewals, arguing the move may have been intended to pressure ABC over programming critical of the Trump administration.
The August 11 filing cited controversies involving “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The View,” as well as FCC scrutiny of NPR, PBS and CBS, as part of what the group described as a broader pattern of pressure on broadcasters. The ACLU has previously joined other free-speech organizations in urging the FCC to renew the ABC station licenses, arguing that government retaliation over editorial content would raise serious First Amendment concerns. [IMDb News]