The head of the Federal Communications Commission is condemning Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for its latest attack on the First Amendment after the state Health Department sent letters threatening local TV stations with legal action if they continue to air an ad supporting Amendment 4, a statewide referendum on abortion rights.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel on Tuesday responded to those reports with an official statement:
The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment. Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.
The DeSantis administration claims the ad, which features a woman with terminal brain cancer discussing Florida’s controversial six-week abortion ban, lies about what the law does. In a letter to a local NBC station, for example, the general counsel for the Health Department claims the ad violates statutes around causing a “sanitary nuisance.” Watch the ad here:
Neither the Florida Health Department nor local stations responded to the Miami Herald’s requests for comment Tuesday.
Lawyers for the organization behind the ad responded with a rebuttal letter to local news stations that offers a detailed breakdown in its defense, in which they argue the DeSantis administration’s pressure campaign “is a flagrant abuse of power and must be rejected.”
Now it appears they have the FCC on their side.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene and as Hurricane Milton bears down on the state, the DeSantis administration ought to be focusing its time and resources on aiding Florida’s residents, not silencing them. But the governor seems willing to set aside things like the First Amendment in an effort to become a standard-bearer of today’s antidemocratic conservative movement.