Trusty Warns FCC Must ‘Walk Carefully’ on Broadcast Regulation

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2025 – Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty used a speech before the Media Institute on Wednesday to deliver a strong defense of First Amendment principles, even as she affirmed that federal law still grants the FCC authority to regulate broadcast content.

“Broadcasting is treated differently than most Americans might expect,” Trusty said. “Yes, the First Amendment still applies… But in broadcasting, content-based regulation that would be unthinkable in other contexts is indeed permitted under longstanding doctrine.”

Trusty’s comments come as free speech advocates warn that the FCC’s powers over broadcast licenses could be misused to punish speech critical of government officials.

She likened broadcast regulation to walking on a “frozen lake,” where the boundary between legitimate oversight and unconstitutional interference is uncertain. 

“Walking this frozen lake requires careful judgment,” she said. “At what point are you still on solid ground, enforcing clear statutory requirements? At what point do the cracks appear?” she asked.

Red Lion still good law, Trusty said

Trusty said the FCC must continue to uphold Red Lion v. FCC, the 1969 Supreme Court decision that sustained the Fairness Doctrine, requiring broadcasters to present opposing views on controversial issues. The Court acknowledged that the rule could chill speech but upheld it on the theory that broadcast spectrum was scarce.

“In Red Lion, the Supreme Court upheld regulations designed to expand the viewpoints available to the public,” Trusty said. “Many have predicted the Supreme Court would eventually erase this distinction. But that day has not yet come. Until it does, the Commission has an obligation to apply the law as its stands”

Trusty struck a tone similar to that of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in citing the FCC’s obligations to maintain public interest in broadcasting.

In recent months, Carr has invoked the public interest standard to reopen news distortion complaints against ABC, CBS, and NBC, threatened radio stations’ licenses for broadcasting the location of ICE agents, and publicly rebuked networks over Jimmy Kimmel Live! segments commenting on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk – prompting several stations to temporarily drop the program.

Public interest mandate to pressure or penalize broadcasters?

Those interventions have prompted concern from legal experts who say Carr’s use of the public interest mandate to pressure or penalize broadcasters over editorial decisions was edging toward coercion.

“We’ve been hearing a lot about the public interest standard lately,” said First Amendment attorney Bob Corn-Revere at an Oct. 8 American Enterprise Institute panel. “It’s something that Chairman Carr regularly brings up, as if that gives him authority to micromanage content on particular stations and particular shows. It doesn’t.”

Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez has voiced similar concerns, condemning what she called the FCC’s “harassment” of broadcasters under Carr’s direction. Gomez said there was “no basis” for the FCC to reopen news distortion probes against ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Carr’s actions toward broadcasters has also drawn concern from several lawmakers, and Carr was expected to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on the matter in the coming weeks.

In her speech Wednesday, Trusty said that the best outcome for the First Amendment would be when “the marketplace, through the choices of individual licensees, advances the public interest.”