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ABC argues FCC violated First Amendment in dispute over The View

tvMay 8, 202634952

ABC filed a legal challenge saying the Federal Communications Commission's inquiry into whether The View still qualifies for a 2002 broadcast news exemption violates the First Amendment. ABC emphasized the exemption was granted in 2002, went unchallenged for 24 years, and that its court paperwork was filed on behalf of a single ABC station in Houston. The company says the FCC escalated scrutiny by opening an inquiry into The View and then unusually reviewing the licenses of all eight ABC owned local stations years before their expirations, and the filing was signed by a top Supreme Court litigator. If a court sides with ABC, the decision could curb the FCC's ability to use licensing processes to police broadcasters' viewpoints and preserve long-standing news exemptions for national talk shows.

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