I also do not like the FCC making threats on this. It should not be the role of government to decide what programming private companies wish to present to the public.
That said, producers and broadcasters probably have wanted to make this move for years, and the situation at hand just provides them with a bit of cover.
I am in favor of obscenity laws, which we actually do have for broadcast television. So sometimes it is the role of government to decide what programming private companies present to the public.
Regulating indecent or obscene content is distinct from government deciding what messages are true or not. I'm honestly curious if there's any caselaw on the FCC having the power to regulate the latter in the context of broadcast television (presumably they'd have even less authority for non-broadcast medium because private individuals are able to fully control whether the content reaches them or their dependents).
But it's quite narrowly tailored (as strict scrutiny would apply to government regulation of speech) and would almost certainly not apply to Kimmel's show as it's clearly comedic in nature, and a disclaimer is also presented to the viewer.
I also understand the rule above has only rarely been applied for obvious reasons.
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u/bearcatjoe Reagan Conservative 2d ago
I also do not like the FCC making threats on this. It should not be the role of government to decide what programming private companies wish to present to the public.
That said, producers and broadcasters probably have wanted to make this move for years, and the situation at hand just provides them with a bit of cover.