Why the FCC Doesn't Want to Vet Trump's COVID Broadcasts

Federal Communications Commission General Counsel Tom Johnson joined The Federalist to discuss why the commission quickly shot down a recent emergency petition from advocacy group Free Press asking the agency to investigate what it calls bogus coronavirus information from talk radio and White House task force briefings. (Free Press’ request cites a 1992 commission rule prohibiting the knowing broadcast of information that could cause public harm.) One key reason for declining the request: The FCC has often botched its judgments about communications networks over the decades, Johnson said. “If we often get it wrong even in the core area of our expertise, imagine us trying to make judgments about the results of clinical trials for potential treatments for COVID while those things are still ongoing,” he said. “It would be an absolute nightmare.” He called the attempt to get the FCC to probe coronavirus rhetoric on talk radio a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” for reviving the Fairness Doctrine.