ABC is accusing U.S. President  Donald Trump 's administration of employing pressure tactics that have forced the television network to make programming compromises such as refraining from booking political candidates on its popular daytime talk show, "The View," for fear of retaliation.

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The network and its parent ​company Disney  sued the Federal Communications Commission  on Tuesday in an effort to block the agency's unusual early review of broadcast licenses for eight Disney-owned local TV stations. They argue that the administration is ‌unlawfully seeking to punish the network over its broadcast content and force changes in its programming.

In a Reuters interview, FCC Chair Brendan Carr denied that the agency was infringing on Disney's free speech rights or responding to Trump's dislike of specific content.

The legal fight highlights the volatile relationship that Trump and his administration have had with the media. Trump has repeatedly since 2024 called for the FCC to revoke the licenses of ABC stations, most recently after the network declined last month to air a  prime-time address  he gave on election security.

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Disney and ABC said that demands ​made by the FCC during the license review process and Trump's public threats already have chilled the network's editorial decision-making.

The FCC, according to the lawsuit, has "waged a retaliatory campaign" against ABC because the Republican president, among other ​grievances, disapproves of its news coverage and objects to on-air comments by its late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel.

"Our job is to hold broadcasters accountable to the public interest standard," Carr told ⁠Reuters, citing how the government long has granted stations free use of the airwaves in exchange for providing programming in the public interest. "You made a deal with the American people. You know, live up to your end of the deal."

"The president ​has obviously every right to express his view on these matters," Carr said, adding that any decision will be "based on the facts and the law and the record."

Trump appointed Carr to the FCC in 2017 during his first term as president, and ​designated him as chair last year.

"The sad fact is that this policy of intimidation has already worked, to a certain extent, by forcing media organizations and others to cower and keep their heads down, rather than act as they normally would in accordance with their First Amendment rights," said journalism professor Gabriel Kahn of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

📰 Source: Joy Online Ghana