ACLU Demands FCC Records Over Early ABC License Renewal, Alleging Retaliation for Trump-Critical Speech
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding the FCC turn over internal records about its decision to force Disney's eight owned-and-operated ABC stations to renew their broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule, according to Variety Variety.
The request, filed on a Tuesday and first reported on 11 August 2026, alleges the FCC's publicly stated rationale "does not seem credible in context" and accuses the government of illegally retaliating against broadcasters for their speech. The ACLU wrote that it believes the FCC's stated basis for the early renewal is "mere pretext" for punishing ABC because the Trump administration disliked what the network's on-air talent had to say.
Here is the timeline the ACLU is probing. On 23 April 2026, a joke about Jimmy Kimmel aired on his late-night show. Donald and Melania Trump publicly criticised it. On 27 April, Melania Trump posted on X that Kimmel should not "have the opportunity to enter homes each evening to spread hate" and called on ABC to take a stand. That same day, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Kimmel should be "immediately fired" by Disney and ABC.
One day later, on 28 April, the FCC's Media Bureau issued an order requiring Disney to file license renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations within 30 days. Those licenses were not otherwise due for renewal until between 2028 and 2031 Variety.
An FCC spokesperson has said the early renewal order is based on a long-running investigation into Disney's DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion — conduct, not any speech. FCC chair Brendan Carr was asked at a 30 April press conference whether the Kimmel joke would factor into the ABC license review Variety.
The FCC also initiated a formal review of whether The View qualifies for an exemption to the agency's equal-time rules for political candidates — a separate but parallel action ABC's critics have tied to the same pressure campaign Variety.
Disney filed the renewal applications on 28 May 2026, calling the FCC's order "unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional" and a violation of its First Amendment rights Reuters. ABC's lawyers have since urged the FCC to reject petitions to deny the renewals, arguing the early review amounted to "retaliation" The Guardian.
The ACLU is not alone in pushing back. On 29 July 2026, the ACLU and other free speech organisations filed a comment with the FCC demanding it stop what they called a "censorship campaign" against ABC and Kimmel ACLU. In June, the ACLU endorsed the bipartisan JAWBONE Act, legislation designed to protect free speech in the context of the FCC's action ACLU. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a joint comment with the FCC on 6 August 2026 Knight Institute.
ABC and other critics, including former FCC chairs, have called the license review an attempt to intimidate broadcasters whose coverage the administration dislikes Variety.
Representatives for the FCC did not respond to a request for comment about the ACLU's FOIA request. ABC declined to comment Variety.
For ABC's owned stations, the stakes are concrete. A broadcast license is a station's permission to exist. If the FCC declines to renew one, the station goes dark. Eight stations employ hundreds of people and serve local audiences in major markets. What the FOIA request seeks is the paper trail behind a decision that could determine whether those stations stay on the air.
