Parents' group fights FCC bid to loosen indecency rules

The Parents Television Council, a media watchdog group, is pushing back against the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to soften its policy against indecent radio and TV content.

The FCC issued a request for public comment on a proposal that would focus on penalizing only "egregious" indecency cases. The proposal would be a shift away from the agency's policy, adopted during the Bush administration, of penalizing even "fleeting expletives." Tim Winter, the president of the Parents Television Council, said that the FCC's announcement is "deeply vexing." "It unnecessarily weakens a decency law that withstood a ferocious, 10-year constitutional attack waged by the broadcast industry. It invites yet another wave of special interest pressure to obviate the intent of Congress and the will of the American people," Winter said. "The FCC is supposed to represent the interests of the American public, not the interests of the entertainment industry," he added. "Either material is legally indecent or it is not," Winter said. "It is unnecessary for indecent content to be repeated many times in order to be actionable, and it is unwise for the FCC to pursue a new course which will guarantee nothing but a new rash of new litigation."