FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has denounced ABC’s lawsuit against the agency’s early license renewal proceedings for its stations as “a meritless case based on their own campaign of disinformation,” vowing that “the FCC will follow the facts and the law wherever they go.”
In an X post, Carr—who frequently uses the platform for policy statements—reaffirmed that FCC rules on broadcasters’ public-interest obligations authorize the agency to oversee programming.
“All broadcasters have an obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney,” he wrote. “Indeed, broadcasters made a deal with the American public—in exchange for free access to a valuable public resource (the airwaves) they agreed to meet their public interest obligations. This sets them apart from cable channels or podcasts or newspapers.”
In an accompanying video, Carr emphasized that the FCC has reached no official decision in its DEI investigation but suggested the probe has unsettled Disney. “We have made no decision, but now Disney has rushed to court to try to stop the FCC from moving forward,” he said. “And apparently, I guess Disney must be very concerned and worried about that production.”
On August 18, ABC filed a First Amendment lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to halt the FCC’s early broadcast license renewal proceedings.