The China Mail - Disney, ABC sue US regulator over threat to broadcast licenses

The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Washington, comes after the FCC earlier this year asked ABC TV stations to renew their broadcast licenses earlier than scheduled.

"Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts," the suit says.

"Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech."

President Donald Trump has personally lashed out at ABC -- particularly the network's late night host Jimmy Kimmel -- on numerous occasions and suggested revoking the broadcast licenses of stations he claims are "almost 100% negative" towards him.

The famously litigious Republican president has filed a number of defamation lawsuits against media outlets, including suing ABC over statements about a civil judgment in a sexual assault case.

He took CBS to court for allegedly misleading viewers by airing different clips of the same answer from an interview with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

The cases involving ABC and CBS ended in December 2024 and July 2025 with the broadcasters promising to pay $15 million and $16 million, respectively.

Other ongoing cases include a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC over an allegedly misleading edit of one of his speeches and one against The Wall Street Journal over publication of a salacious birthday letter he allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

- 'Government intimidation' -

In its lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Disney and ABC said the Trump administration has "steadily increased the pressure on ABC, culminating in the present threat to the broadcasting licenses of the eight ABC Owned Stations.

"The Commission has demanded a review of the Stations' licenses extraordinarily early," it says. "That timing underscores the Commission's true purpose: coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration's demands."

"Facing this existential threat, Plaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration's blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech," the suit says.

ABC and Disney asked the court to issue a restraining order preventing the FCC from taking any action against the network's broadcasting licenses, which were not up for renewal until 2028.

Anna Gomez, the sole commissioner on the FCC appointed by a Democratic president, welcomed the lawsuit as pushback against what she called "government intimidation."

"For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney's ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn't like," Gomez said in a statement.

"It is time this administration understands that the Constitution does not bend to political convenience, and that the First Amendment protects the news and commentary Americans see on their screens even when those in power wish it didn't," she added.

C.Mak--ThChM