2026年10月6日 美国东部时间下午3:26 / 哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻
作者：伊玛尼·阿比奥努
迪士尼旗下的ABC电视台律师周二请求联邦法官阻止美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）提前对该网络的广播牌照进行审查，称此次监管程序的发起是为了报复ABC此前播出了冒犯特朗普政府的内容。
在华盛顿特区联邦法院举行的约两小时听证会上，ABC方面辩称，特朗普总统和FCC主席布伦丹·卡尔的言论暴露了监管机构在4月份采取前所未有的举措——要求ABC及其母公司旗下的8家电视台提前数年提交广播牌照续期申请的真正原因。
这些牌照原本的续期时间为2028年至2031年之间。
“他们动用政府权力进行报复，试图阻止ABC行使受第一修正案保护的言论自由，”该公司律师贝丝·威尔金森说道。
威尔金森曾一度援引法国大革命来比喻FCC的行动，称该机构实际上迫使这家广播公司在等待牌照裁决期间“脖子架在断头台上”。
她表示，在整个程序推进期间，这一监管行动已经立即对ABC的编辑决策产生了寒蝉效应。其中部分决策可能反过来导致FCC“对我们处以企业死刑，吊销我们的牌照”，她说道。
在发言中，她重点提到了特朗普7月份在白宫发表的一场演讲，当时他批评ABC和NBC未转播他的演讲，并呼吁吊销两家公司的牌照。她表示，这些言论对其客户构成了“直接威胁”。
“人们可能不喜欢ABC的某些报道，总统也有权表达不满，但公众有权接触到不同的言论和观点，”她说道。
为FCC辩护的美国司法部则辩称，该机构4月份下令提前进行牌照审查的决定，是因迪士尼未能充分回应针对该公司多元化、公平性和包容性举措的持续调查。
代表FCC参与本案的司法部律师迪米塔尔·乔治耶夫-雷梅表示，ABC“拒绝充分回应”FCC的反歧视调查。“委员会通过要求原告提前续期广播牌照，来获取其所需的信息。”
周二的法律辩论主要围绕迪士尼和ABC是否具备法律权限在地区法院挑战FCC的提前牌照续期程序展开。
司法部辩称，管辖牌照续期的监管程序要求公司先向FCC全体委员会提起上诉，之后任何不利裁决只能由联邦上诉法院审理，而非美国地区法院。
但ABC方面称，其在本案中遭遇的报复性行为不属于国会规定的监管上诉程序范畴，这也是该公司寻求救济以应对当前面临的直接伤害的唯一途径。
威尔金森举例说明了此类伤害，称该网络已经改变了政治话题的报道方式，并指出脱口秀《观点》已经调整了节目中片段选取的方式。
她补充道，长期批评特朗普的喜剧演员吉米·坎摩尔也将他与得克萨斯州民主党参议院候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科的采访视频上传至YouTube，而非在本台播出。
威尔金森表示，即便该公司曾试图就4月份启动提前牌照续期的决定提起上诉，委员会也有权无限期搁置此事。
她还指出，如果FCC最终在程序结束时决定续期牌照，ABC将无法获得有效的法律救济来弥补其所遭受的损害。
由拜登任命的美国地区法官洛伦·阿里汗有时对政府关于FCC启动提前牌照续期程序是为了从反歧视调查中获取更多信息的说法表示怀疑。
当她问及司法部还有哪些其他法律工具可以迫使ABC提供所要求的数据时，乔治耶夫-雷梅未能立即给出答复，这促使法官要求政府在10月9日前提交一份针对该问题的意见书。
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/disney-and-abc-sue-fcc-over-early-license-renewals-arguing-first/
迪士尼与ABC就提前牌照续期起诉FCC，捍卫其第一修正案权利
(时长03:29)
ABC asks federal judge to block FCC’s early license review, citing retaliation by Trump administration
2026-10-06 3:26 PM EDT / CBS News
By Imani Agbionu
An attorney for Disney’s ABC asked a federal judge on Tuesday to block the Federal Communications Commission from conducting an early review of the network’s broadcast licenses, saying the regulatory proceeding was initiated to retaliate against ABC over content that offended the Trump administration.
During a roughly two-hour hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., ABC argued that comments from President Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr laid bare the true reasons behind why the regulatory agency took the unprecedented step in April of ordering eight television stations owned by ABC and its parent company to submit renewal applications for their broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule.
Those licenses were originally scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031.
“They are retaliating with their government power to stop ABC from exercising their protected First Amendment speech,” said Beth Wilkinson, an attorney for the company.
Wilkinson at one point used the French Revolution to illustrate the FCC’s actions, arguing the agency was effectively forcing the broadcast company to sit with its “head on a guillotine” while it awaits a decision about the licenses.
As the process plays out, she said, the regulatory action is having an immediate chilling effect on how ABC makes editorial decisions. Some of those decisions could in turn lead the FCC to “give us the corporate death penalty and take away our licenses,” she said.
In her remarks, she highlighted a speech that Mr. Trump made at the White House in July, in which he chastised ABC and NBC for not broadcasting the speech and called for their licenses to be revoked. Those remarks, she said, represented a “direct threat” to her client.
“People may not like some of ABC’s coverage and the president is entitled to it, but the public has the right to be exposed to different speech and viewpoints,” she said.
The Justice Department, which is defending the FCC, has argued that the agency’s decision in April to order an early license review was triggered by Disney’s failure to adequately respond to an ongoing investigation into the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
ABC “refused to adequately respond” to the FCC’s anti-discrimination probe, said Dimitar Georgiev-Remme, one of the Justice Department’s attorneys representing the FCC in the case. “The commission decided to look for information that it needed by calling for early renewal of plaintiffs’ broadcast license.”
Tuesday’s legal arguments centered primarily on whether Disney and ABC have legal authority to challenge the FCC’s early license renewal process in the district court.
The Justice Department argues that the regulatory process that governs license renewals would require a company to appeal an FCC order to the full commission. After that, any adverse decision can only be heard by a federal appellate court — and not a U.S. district court.
ABC, however, alleges that the type of retaliatory conduct it is facing in this case falls outside the scope of the regulatory appeals process prescribed by Congress, and this is the only way the company can seek relief to address the immediate harm it is facing.
In one such example of harm, Wilkinson said the network has changed the ways in which it covers political topics, noting that the talk show “The View” has changed how it selects the clips it uses in the show.
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, a longstanding critic of Trump, also separately posted his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on YouTube rather than airing it with the network, she added.
Wilkinson said that even if the company had sought to appeal the April decision to initiate an early license renewal, the commission has the power to sit on the matter indefinitely.
She also noted that if the FCC ultimately decides to renew the licenses at the end of the process, ABC will have no effective legal remedy to address the harm it has suffered.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, at times appeared skeptical at the government’s claim that the FCC initiated the early license renewal process in order to get more information for its anti-discrimination investigation.
When she asked the Justice Department what other legal tools it has at its disposal to compel ABC to provide the requested data, Georgiev-Remme could not provide an immediate answer, prompting the judge to ask the government to file a brief addressing her question by Oct. 9.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/disney-and-abc-sue-fcc-over-early-license-renewals-arguing-first/
Inside Disney and ABC’s First Amendment rights as they sue FCC over early license renewal
(03:29)
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