The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday said the federal agency doesn’t have the authority to revoke a network’s license over content following President Trump’s suggestion that NBC’s broadcast license should be challenged over a report he called “Fake News.”
“Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority, does not have the power, to revoke license of a broadcast station based on content of a program,” said Ajit Pai, a Republican who was appointed by Trump as chairman.
He said that it is “not within the FCC’s jurisdiction to handle fake news.”
“I believe in the First Amendment. The FCC, under my leadership, will stand for the first amendment,” Pai said in his first comments on the matter without mentioning Trump by name.
Upset that NBC News reported that Trump sought a tenfold increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal, the president tweeted that the network’s broadcast license should be examined.
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!,” Trump wrote on Twitter last Wednesday.
On Sunday, a Democratic member of the FCC explained that licenses are given to local stations – not the networks – and they must follow FCC rules and the First Amendment.
She also ripped her fellow commissioners and Pai for not speaking out in defense of the First Amendment in light of Trump’s comments.
“History won’t be kind to silence, and I think it’s important for all the commissioners to make clear that they support the First Amendment and that the agency will not revoke a broadcast license simply because the president is dissatisfied with the licensee’s coverage,” Jessica Rosenworcel said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”
https://nypost.com/2017/10/17/fcc-chair-breaks-silence-days-after-trumps-broadcast-license-threats/
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