Strict scrutiny for broadcast content

Updated: 2025.11.30 6D ago 3 sources
The author urges Congress to pass a 'Free Speech Restoration Act' that forces courts to apply strict scrutiny to content‑based broadcast regulations and cabins the FCC’s 'public interest' power to technical matters. This would effectively kill the old 'scarcity rationale' and block license revocation for disfavored speech. — It offers a clear, RFRA‑style legislative template to end license‑based censorship and align broadcast speech with modern First Amendment standards.

Sources

*FDR: A New Political Life*
Tyler Cowen 2025.11.30 55% relevant
The book excerpt alleges FDR used FCC licensing to secure political advantage for radio; that historical practice speaks directly to modern proposals to apply strict judicial scrutiny to broadcast regulation and highlights why regulatory capture of media matters for speech norms today.
Poverty and the Mind
2025.10.02 90% relevant
The newsletter endorses a 'Free Speech Restoration Act' to bar the FCC from pulling licenses based on program content, directly mirroring the proposal to subject broadcast content rules to strict scrutiny and restrict the agency’s content-based authority.
Get the FCC Out of the Censorship Business
Joe Kane 2025.10.01 100% relevant
Proposal to enact a Free Speech Restoration Act limiting FCC content authority and requiring strict scrutiny for broadcast speech rules.
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