Posted on 03/11/2020 1:00:48 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
. The broadcast by a station of false information concerning a crime or catastrophe violates the FCC's rules if: ;The station licensee knew that the information was false; ;Broadcasting the false information directly causes substantial public harm; and ;It was foreseeable that broadcasting the false information would cause such harm.
In this context, a “crime” is an act or omission that makes the offender subject to criminal punishment by law, and a “catastrophe” is a disaster or an imminent disaster involving violent or sudden events affecting the public. The broadcast must cause direct and actual damage to property or to the health or safety of the general public, or diversion of law enforcement or other public health and safety authorities from their duties, and the public harm must begin immediately.
If a station airs a disclaimer before the broadcast that clearly characterizes the program as fiction and the disclaimer is presented in a reasonable manner under the circumstances, the program is presumed not to pose foreseeable public harm.
sort by News Distortion. The Commission often receives complaints concerning broadcast journalism, such as allegations that stations have aired inaccurate or one-sided news reports or comments, covered stories inadequately, or overly dramatized the events that they cover.
For the reasons noted previously, the Commission generally will not intervene in these cases because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own. However, as public trustees, broadcast licensees may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC has stated that “rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.”
The Commission will investigate a station for news distortion if it receives documented evidence of rigging or slanting, such as testimony or other documentation, from individuals with direct personal knowledge that a licensee or its management engaged in the intentional falsification of the news.
Of particular concern would be evidence of the direction to employees from station management to falsify the news. However, absent such a compelling showing, the Commission will not intervene.
You can count on your fingers the number of times the FCC has actually pulled a broadcast license. Not gonna happen.
Besides most panic is being spread online now which is out of their jurisdiction.
I’m with you!! Where do we apply?
I don’t want to go there, censorship is never the answer.
Not until the market slips below 10,000
I dont think the FCC has ever taken action like this...
99% of the places you think are promoting panic are not broadcasters. They are cable companies. They don’t have licenses.
If you don’t want to see coverage don’t watch.
You realize they repeat the news constantly because the audience turns over.
Turn it off. Go for a walk. Play with your dog.
It will be there when you get back.
You can add Fox News to the list of media pricks who need to be pulled..seriously, 3 million are going to be infected in the US really..hundreds of thousands will die..really, we are not dealing with the black plague here..if this virus were SO weaponized we would already have millions dead not 4,000 you would have millions dead in the streets right now its a bad virus, people have to take precautions take care of themselves and NOT travel, bolt your behind to your sofa you dont need to travel to Italy
Cable Channels such as CNN and PMSNBC do not have broadcast licenses, therefore there is nothing to pull.
They’ve pulled a few licenses here and there. A radio station in Central Pennsylvania for broadcasting racist Klan material in the 60’s. A TV station in Boston for its ownership being involved in unethical business practices in the 70’s. They may pull one in this area soon because a radio station owner was just convicted of a felony.
Generally though the stations appeal and the process drags on for years.
Well if there is zero responsibility in the content, then we're in for a tough ride with all this disinformation.
Their might be an Amendment that covers stuff like that. Is that really yelling “fire” in an empty theater?
———i don’t want to go there, censorship is never the answer.———
One would think that is obvious......
I’m always amazed that conservatives think big government is a better solution than marketplace solutions....
Seriously. I don’t think any of us can say with certainty how bad this virus will be, so how can we justify censoring even the worst Cassandra?
Saying millions will die and crashing the market, yep, that's yelling fire.
Rather than the virus, I was thinking the RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA soft coup hoax would be more applicable.
This is not the place to promote censorship. You think Free Republic’s right to exist wouldn’t be the first thing to go in your little scenario?
Just as I trust the free market to set prices I trust the free exchange of ideas and theories to disburse information.
If they totally crash the stock market, like they are doing, the loss of TRILLIONS will take many many years to recover with untold business nd humanity losses, all for what, trashing Trump? At what point does a corrupt media pay the price? Total economic collapse?
You're PAYING for the disinformation. The accountability is that you drop cable television in protest.
Or you don't watch those channels, and their ad revenue, which is tied to their ratings, goes down.
Or you contact the advertisers on the channel and tell them you will not buy their product if they continue to advertise on the channel.
But who is to determine just what is “false information”? When it comes to this virus thing, differing views just might be a matter of opinion.
I sure wouldn’t want some bureaucrat somewhere deciding what is and isn’t false information. Better that citizens in a free country check multiple sources, then decide for themselves.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.