In a speech late last year, an FCC commissioner outlined the leftist plan to silence dissent!
Washington liberals are currently in search of even more means by which to silence conservatives. In a speech to The Columbia School of Journalism, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps laid out a chilling series of proposals designed to increase the leverage that Washington liberals have over what constitutes “appropriate” political speech. Commissioner Copps proposed that the Federal Government should have an extensive “Public Value Test” that it can use to decide if a broadcaster can retain his license.
Government regulation of political thought and speech is antithetical to a functioning Democracy. The very act of making statements like this will have a chilling effect on free speech, as the organization that oversees the process of renewing station’s broadcast licenses has said that they believe that those licenses should not be renewed unless an ill–defined “Public Value Test” is passed.
The FCC is a body both unelected and unaccountable to the American people. This makes them uniquely UNQUALIFIED to determine what is acceptable political discourse, let alone impose any regulations based upon these determinations. The people of the United States do not need to be protected from the marketplace of ideas by Washington bureaucrats simply seeking to expand government control over another facet of American life.
CNSNews.com has a full report on this insidious FCC plan here.
This proposal would allow the FCC to crush conservative speech simply by an implied threat that a broadcaster’s license may not be renewed should he broadcast a Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Mark Levin.
The Free Speech Alliance stands opposed to or any attempts to shut down conservative speech on broadcast networks or the Internet.