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U.S. telecom regulator rejects complaints over

election-related

broadcasts

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FCC says complaints violate First Amendment rights

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Rosnenwocel says should not be 'the president's speech

police'

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) -

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday rejected

complaints about how ABC News moderated the pre-election TV

debate between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican rival

Donald Trump, and appearances of Vice President Kamala Harris on

CBS' "60 Minutes" and NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

In a statement, outgoing FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel

said the commission was rejecting complaints that "seek to

weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is

fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment."

Rosenworcel also said the agency had rejected a petition not

to renew the license of a Philadelphia Fox TV station.

An advocacy group asked the FCC in 2023 to deny a

licence renewal for WTXF-TV, complaining that its parent Fox

, which also owns Fox News, had aired "false information

about election fraud" about the 2020 presidential election. The

group, the Media and Democracy Project, said on Thursday it

plans to appeal the decision.

In September, Trump urged the FCC to cancel licenses for

Walt Disney ( DIS )-owned ABC over the network's moderating of

the Sept. 10 presidential debate.

In October, Trump filed a lawsuit against

Paramount-owned CBS over the "60 Minutes" interview

with Harris that he called "misleading," and asked the

commission to compel the broadcaster to release a transcript.

Trump, who won the Nov. 5 election, will be

inaugurated on Monday

for his second term in office.

The FCC rejected a complaint by the Center for American

Rights that the "60 Minutes" interview was distorted, saying the

nonprofit group failed to provide sufficient evidence that the

broadcast engaged in "a deliberate and intentional falsification

of the news."

CBS has said that Trump backed out of his own planned

interview with "60 Minutes."

Rosenworcel said Trump was a threat to the First

Amendment for calling on the FCC to revoke licenses for

broadcast television stations because he disagrees with their

content and coverage.

"The FCC should not be the president's speech police,"

Rosenworcel said.

The FCC, an independent federal agency, issues

eight-year licenses to individual broadcast stations, not

networks.

Trump's pick to head the FCC, Brendan Carr, criticized

Comcast ( CMCSA )-owned NBC for letting Harris appear on Saturday

Night Live just before the election. The FCC noted NBC made

available equivalent time and audience for Trump during two

sports events.

The Trump transition team and Carr did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

Carr told reporters in November the FCC will examine all

the relevant issues such as whether the broadcasters were

meeting their obligation to act in the public interest.

In 2017, then FCC Chair Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed

by Trump, rejected his suggestion the FCC could challenge NBC's

license after it published stories Trump declared were untrue.