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Written by Dominic Perri
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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 12:26 |
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The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan today said that Federal Communications Commission's guidelines for fleeting expletives and other indecencies in broadcast violate the First Amendment. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said in its opinion that the FCC's policy was "unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here." The court's ruling is attached to this post.
While this is clearly a victory for the broadcast networks and freedom-of-speech advocates, it poses a significant challenge for parents. The case had its origins in the rock star Bono's exclamation, "this is really f..... brilliant!" at a Golden Globes Award ceremony in 2004. With this new ruling, what are parents to do? This is a question the broadcast networks are not clear about. We assume they want families to watch awards shows like the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards with their children.
As always, we are not advocating censorship. Rather, if we are going to provide maximum freedom of expression for TV and other media, then we also have to equip families and consumers with the tools to select what content they want in their homes and what content they want to keep out. That is a conversation that is long overdue.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 12:45 |
