FCC commissioner joins Disney’s free-speech fight
Walt Disney Co. has gained a powerful ally in its fight against the Federal Communications Commission: One of the panel’s three commissioners.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the panel’s only Democrat, took the rare step of sending a letter to Disney Chief Executive Officer Josh D’Amaro on Monday, explaining what she saw as a pressure campaign to undermine not just Disney’s ABC network but any media outlet that reported critically about President Trump.
“What Disney and ABC face is not a series of random regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control through the weaponization of the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator,” Gomez wrote.
In his four-page letter to D’Amaro, Disney’s newly appointed CEO, Gomez wrote that the FCC’s efforts are all about “pressuring the free and independent press and all media to submit.”
His support comes after the FCC, in a highly unusual move, launched an early review of the broadcast licenses of Disney-owned ABC stations, including KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles. Disney owns eight stations, and their licenses are not scheduled to expire for another two to five years.
The FCC also demanded that Disney’s Houston television network explain why ABC’s daytime show “The View” should be granted an exemption from providing equal time rules to politicians appearing on a rival show.
Disney said “The View” was granted an exemption — common among news programs — in 2002. Last Thursday, Disney sent a scathing letter to the FCC objecting to its investigation of “The View.”
Gomez has been outspoken about the tactics of her colleague (Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr) and the dangers some FCC actions pose to 1st Amendment freedoms. Monday’s letter amped up his criticism and gave Disney powerful ammunition to use in its legal fight against the FCC.
Disney and the FCC did not immediately comment.
Gomez, the telecommunications lawyer, listed four key events that began when Disney decided to settle its defamation lawsuit, a month after Trump was re-elected to a second term. Some free speech experts thought Disney had a chance to win this case, based on erroneous statements made by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.
However, Disney agreed to pay $15 million in late 2024 to settle the lawsuit.
“Whatever the legal calculations behind this decision, its impact was immediate and unfailing,” Gomez wrote. “He told this administration that pressure was working. He told every other company that followed that capitulation was an option. And he opened the door to every action that followed.”
Gomez said the administration’s goal was not to impose challenges that the FCC would have to defend in court, but instead to encourage TV networks to self-censor and tone down their news broadcasts as a way to avoid being dragged into a fight with the president and Carr.
“Most [FCC investigations] Gomez wrote that it would never conclude that any practice could be subject to judicial review. “Because the real issue is the threat.”
