Explainer

How Trump’s FCC Is Policing Speech on TV Networks

Brendan CarrPhotographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

President Donald Trump has long complained about what he sees as unfair treatment from the major television networks. Now he’s employing a new enforcer in the fight: the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC has broad powers over broadcast station licenses and media mergers, and under Trump it has begun to police speech through a combination of bluster, legal leverage and updated guidance of its “equal time” rule.