Gomez accuses FCC of pressuring broadcasters before midterms as Carr says Disney sued in the wrong court

Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr said on 30 September that Disney has sued “at the wrong time in the wrong court, making meritless arguments”, as a federal judge prepared to hear the company’s request for a temporary restraining order against the agency. Carr said he would not attend the hearing and that the FCC was moving “full steam ahead” with its investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices and its review of ABC’s licence renewals.

Commissioner Anna Gomez, the agency’s lone Democrat, offered a different account, accusing the FCC of punishing broadcasters before the midterms. “Going after Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and by the way, putting their licences in jeopardy over what they consider to be poor responses to their investigation, is kind of like saying you get the death penalty for a speeding ticket,” she said. “It is clear that the intent is to punish the broadcaster for refusing to capitulate.”

Gomez said the agency had launched investigations into ABC, NBC and CBS after outside-group complaints, but that a Public Citizen complaint over White House-funded ads featuring President Donald Trump would likely go nowhere: “a glaring double standard”.

Carr argued that broadcasters airing “fake polls” designed to distort people’s perceptions could fall under the FCC’s news distortion policy. Gomez countered that the policy requires proof of deliberate distortion, adding: “A poll a candidate does not like does not come close to meeting that standard.”

The exchanges came at back-to-back press conferences after the meeting.