ABC accuses FCC of violating its First Amendment rights over its scrutiny of

ABC is accusing the Federal Communications Commission of violating its First Amendment rights due to the agency’s scrutiny of its talk show “The View,” according to a petition filed with the agency on May 7.

According to the broadcaster’s petition, the FCC has demanded that ABC prove that “The View” qualifies as a news program, or risk being forced to give equal airtime to every political candidate who asks for it.

ABC argues that such a requirement would “chill critical protected speech.”

The petition comes amid a battle between the FCC and ABC parent Walt Disney Co. Last month, the agency ordered Disney to file early license renewal applications for its ABC television stations, citing an ongoing investigation, a day after President Trump called on the company to fire comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

In a statement to CBS News, an FCC spokesperson said it “will review Disney’s assertion that ‘The View’ is a ‘bona fide news program’ and thus exempt from the political equal time rules.”

Added the spokesperson: “Decades ago, Congress passed a law that generally prohibits broadcast television programs from putting a thumb on the scale in favor of one political candidate over another. Specifically, Congress put protections in place to ensure that covered programs offer legally qualified candidates for office (both Republican and Democrat) equal time on the public airwaves.”

Clash over “equal time”

At the center of the latest tussle is the so-called equal time rule, which requires broadcast stations that interview one political candidate to give equal airtime to all other candidates for the same office.

Because that can lead to unmanageable airtime requirements for TV stations, Congress decades ago added an exemption for “bona fide” news broadcasts and interviews. 

“The View” received an exemption for the equal time rule in 2002. At the end of March 2026, the FCC required ABC’s Houston station, KTRK-TV, to file a new request with the agency over whether “The View” remains a “bona fide news interview program,” according to ABC’s filing. 

The 2002 ruling “remains in full force and effect,” ABC said in the petition. “The Commission has taken no action over the last two decades to modify or overturn the declaratory ruling, and there is no basis for doing so now.”

James Talarico interview

The FCC’s order to Disney came after Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, a Democrat, appeared on  “The View” on Feb. 2.

“The decision to include Talarico was driven by considerations of newsworthiness and audience interest and not an intent to advance his candidacy,” ABC’s petition states. 

The petition noted that the FCC hasn’t made similar requests of other media outlets, such as Texas radio stations that air conservative-leaning shows such as “The Mark Levin Show.”

“[S]uch a clear disparity in the treatment of broadcasters that ought to be subject to the same treatment under law raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting,” the ABC petition alleges. 

Free-speech advocates applauded ABC for challenging the FCC.

“ABC’s refusal to quietly allow the federal government to dictate the range of viewpoints it may air without fear of retaliation is welcome and commendable,” said Will Creeley, legal director of Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, in an email. “The Federal Communications Commission is not, and cannot become, the nation’s censor-in-chief, as its chairman once recognized.”