Abolish the FCC: Why America's Speech Police Must Go
The FCC, where good intentions led us to the depths of Dante’s first amendment inferno.
The government's narrative sounds compelling at first glance - they positioned themselves as saviors responding to early radio's chaotic landscape of interference and monopolistic control. Officials created the FCC on legitimate technical concerns: overlapping radio frequencies, broadcasters fighting over territory, and communication channels for public safety.
The government's original plan sounded reasonable on paper: radio frequencies caused pure chaos, interference was an added concern, and we needed orders brought to the airwaves. Similar to most government solutions, the FCC became a larger problem than it was meant to solve.
It’s a ludicrous notion that the airwaves and broadcasting channels are scarce and therefore should be managed by the government. Is this an argument for the government running everything? Every commodity is scarce and we have to pay a price for the service or goods. With the government here to help, they actually created more scarcity, defeating the ultimate purpose of the agency.
Let's pretend that this government involvement was in fact needed, let’s take a look at the outcomes. Let’s take a look at the examples below and ask ourselves the following, do we not have an obligation to rethink the existence of the FCC?
Arguments Against FCC Creation
Free Speech Violations: Government agencies like the FCC become censorship police that impede First Amendment rights. The Fairness Doctrine is a perfect case in point for this overreach, granting bureaucrats power to monitor, investigate, and silence political speech or viewpoints that challenged official narratives.
Bipartisan Political Weaponization: Both Republican and Democratic administrations have consistently abused the FCC's regulatory power as a political cudgel. Time and again, incumbent governments have used licensing threats and regulatory pressure to punish critical media coverage, silence opposition voices, and reward compliant broadcasters.
Economic Market Manipulation: Government intervention doesn't fix market problems- it creates them. The FCC artificially restricted broadcasting entry, manufactured scarcity where none existed, then used that manufactured crisis to justify even more control. Free markets with clear property rights and competitive auctions would have allocated broadcast resources far more efficiently than bureaucratic decree.
Permanent Bureaucratic Mission Creep: What started as a supposedly temporary fix for 1930s radio interference has metastasized into a permanent regulatory empire that now threatens to control all communications technology. The FCC's very existence undermines free speech, competitive markets, and democratic discourse - problems that private property rights and common law could have resolved without creating a censorship apparatus.Let's look at some examples
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969)
Free speech advocates have criticized this ruling for allowing government control over broadcast content and chilling speech.
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)
Critics argue this case legitimized content censorship and broad FCC power over speech.
Fairness Doctrine Controversy
Critics said it violated free speech by effectively compelling speech and limiting broadcaster editorial discretion. The FCC officially eliminated the doctrine in 1987 due to such concerns.
Key Recent Case: National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo (2024)
The ruling is often cited in criticism of the FCC’s recent tactics suggesting broadcasters could lose licenses for airing content the agency dislikes.
2025 FCC and Jimmy Kimmel Controversy
Critics and free speech advocates, including the ACLU, accused Carr of unconstitutional "jawboning" or coercion that violates the First Amendment by pressuring private broadcasters to suppress speech.
In 2025, FCC Chairman Carr threatened ABC's broadcast license renewal over Kimmel's political commentary, sparking widespread criticism. This recent weaponization of Jimmy Kimmel, who I have no love for, puts me in a bittersweet scenario. On one hand I cannot stand the man. To me he is the definition of a sexist(the man show), racist(blackface) individual who shouldn’t be on the air based on him being an awful human being. His ratings should have led to a corporate decision as the sole driver by ABC.
On the other hand, there was clear influence from the FCC. Argue whether they have the power to influence or not legally…do we want that government influence? I would say no, the shoe is always going to be on the other foot, and mark my words…in the next 10 years the republicans are going to be screaming bloody murder over a case yet unknown.
The X factor in all of this is the FCC, if you abolish them, the threat is neutralized and the American public would no longer be burdened by their power. There is a battle for power over social media and the government for control over the narrative that is taking place outside of the broadcasting space, isn’t it time we remove them from this aspect of life.
It’s our responsibility to decide what we want to take in politically, and for entertainment purposes. Whether something is in bad taste, vulgar, or even dare I say straight misinformation, the people need to be self governed arbitrators on what and how they receive information.
Once we allow the government to begin drawing lines and coming up with their own interpretations it becomes completely arbitrary at some point as to what is allowable. The FCC is rooted in democratic socialism, on a tangential note, maybe it’s time to rethink this philosophy as it doesn’t apply to just the FCC, free speech and the first amendment.
One thing I love about this, is that it is giving rise to a large swath of Democrats who seem to be rejecting an FDR established agency and looking behind the curtain of the libertarian mind. For now, the libertarians are on the right side of history, abolish the FCC. The Democrats are joining, and the Republicans will…once they are feeling threatened by the powers of the FCC in the next decade…it begs the question, why are we all not feeling threatened now?
References
Legal Cases
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/395/367/
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_v._Pacifica_Foundation
National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, 602 U.S. ___ (2024)
United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, 529 U.S. 803 (2000)
Policy and Analysis Sources
Heritage Foundation. "Why the Fairness Doctrine is Anything But Fair." https://www.heritage.org/government-regulation/report/why-the-fairness-doctrine-anything-fair
Cato Institute. "The Sordid History of the Fairness Doctrine." https://www.cato.org/article/sordid-history-fairness-doctrine
Libertarianism.org. "The Fairness Doctrine Was Terrible for Broadcasting. It Would Be Terrible for the Internet." https://www.libertarianism.org/building-tomorrow/fairness-doctrine-was-terrible-broadcasting-it-would-be-terrible-internet
Mises Institute. "Freedom for Television and Radio."
Duke Law & Technology Review. https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=dltr
Historical Documentation
Reagan Library Archives. "Fairness Doctrine." https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/topic-guide/fairness-doctrine
First Amendment resources. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/fairness-doctrine/
Constitution Center. "George Carlin and the Supreme Court." https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/george-carlin-and-the-supreme-court
Current Events and Analysis
Reason Magazine. "The FCC Chair's Unprecedented and Constitutionally Problematic Response to Jimmy Kimmel." (September 19, 2025) https://reason.com/volokh/2025/09/19/the-fcc-chairs-unprecedented-and-constitutionally-problematic-response-to-jimmy-kimmel/
ACLU. "ACLU Responds to Trump Administration Move Censoring Jimmy Kimmel." https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-responds-to-trump-administration-move-censoring-jimmy-kimmel
ABC News. "Recent Supreme Court Decision on Trump FCC Pressure on Broadcasters." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/recent-supreme-court-decision-trump-fcc-pressure-broadcasters/story?id=125735179
PBS NewsHour. "After Jimmy Kimmel's Show Was Suspended, a Key Question: Does the FCC Have the Power to Regulate Speech?" https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/after-jimmy-kimmels-show-was-suspended-a-key-question-is-does-the-fcc-have-the-power-to-regulate-speech
General First Amendment Resources
American Library Association. "Censorship Court Cases." https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship/courtcases
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. "History of Free Speech." https://www.thefire.org/history-free-speech
First Amendment Center. "Cases by Date." https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/cases-by-date/
Judicial Learning Center. "Your 1st Amendment Rights." https://judiciallearningcenter.org/home-page/student-center/landmark-cases/your-1st-amendment-rights/