INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The FCC has denied a request that it investigate and take action on a broadcast the petitioners allege has made material and deadly
contributions to the spread of COVID-19: President Trump frequent press conferences.
In a petition filed with the FCC in late March, media
watchdog Free Press wrote that the briefings were so full of incorrect and misleading information that the communications regulator had a
duty to at the very least investigate and report on the broadcasts:
Of particular and urgent concern is the deadly disinformation broadcast
on television stations across the country in the form of context-less coverage of President Donald Trump press conferences and other
statements…
We urge the FCC to conduct an urgent examination into the extent to which broadcasters have aired hoaxes and false or
misleading information about COVID-19, and immediately issue an emergency policy statement or enforcement guidance recommending that
broadcasters prominently disclose when information they air is false or scientifically suspect.
It a big ask that a federal agency should
step in and say the president is perpetrating a hoax on the country
And while the accuracy of the information in the briefings is certainly questionable — for instance the president repeated assurances that
the pandemic &will disappear,& that there are plenty of &beautiful& tests, and that the unproven chloroquine is effective against the virus
— the FCC determined that it was not advisable or possible to restrict their broadcast.
A simple &no& with the requisite technical details
probably would have sufficed, but the FCC opted to post on its front page a more lengthy takedown of the Free Press petition
If that seems a bit excessive, recall that Free Press has been a frequent and effective critic of the FCC, calling out a nonsensical
economic analysis at the heart of the agency justification for rolling back net neutrality, and more recently exposing an embarrassing error
that inflated broadband deployment numbers in the country by millions.
FCC ‘looking into& reported error throwing broadband deployment
numbers off by millions
So perhaps there is something more to the decision to perform a more meticulous dismantling of Free Press petition
All the same, the FCC response provides valuable information on why the agency both can&t and shouldn&t take the actions suggested:
The
Commission does not—and cannot and will not—act as a self-appointed, free-roving arbiter of truth in journalism
Even assuming for the sake of argument that Free Press assertions regarding any lack of veracity were true, false speech enjoys some First
Amendment protection, and section 326 of the Communications Act, reflecting First Amendment values, prohibits the Commission from
interfering with freedom of the press or censoring broadcast communications.
…The Commission has historically regulated the broadcast of
But the Commission has applied this rule narrowly in light of the substantial First Amendment concerns involved with the federal government
policing the content of broadcast news.
At this moment, broadcasters face the challenge of covering a rapidly-evolving, national, and
international health crisis, in which new information—much of it medical or technical in nature and therefore difficult to corroborate or
refute in real time—is continually revealed, vetted, and verified or dismissed.
Under such circumstances, it is implausible, if not
absurd, to suggest that broadcasters knowingly deceived the public by airing these press conferences or other statements by the President
about COVID-19.
Instead, the FCC suggests that the broadcast of incorrect information merely presents a new opportunity for journalists to
add context and correction to the record
As it concludes, with a parting shot at Free Press:
We leave to the press its time-honored and constitutionally protected role in testing
the claims made by our political leaders—as well as those made by national advocacy organizations.
The full text of the FCC denial (PDF)
is an educational read if, like many these days, you wonder about the potential of a government entity like the FCC stepping in to control
the airwaves in a time of crisis.
