Trump admin fights ABC lawsuit as watchdogs worry Disney will settle with FCC
Trump admin fights ABC lawsuit as watchdogs worry Disney will settle with FCC
特朗普政府应对 ABC 诉讼，监管机构担忧迪士尼将与 FCC 和解
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday urged a court to dismiss a Disney lawsuit and let the FCC continue a proceeding that could end in the nonrenewal of ABC’s broadcast licenses. 美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）昨日敦促法院驳回迪士尼的诉讼，并允许 FCC 继续进行可能导致 ABC 广播执照不予续期的程序。
Meanwhile, two watchdog groups and individual viewers of ABC stations are trying to intervene in the lawsuit, saying they are worried Disney will agree to a settlement with the FCC that isn’t in the public’s interest. Disney opposed the motion, and a judge will have to decide whether the groups and individuals can act as intervenors in the case. 与此同时，两个监管监督组织和 ABC 电视台的个人观众正试图介入此案，称他们担心迪士尼会与 FCC 达成一项不符合公众利益的和解协议。迪士尼对此表示反对，法官将决定这些组织和个人是否可以作为介入方参与此案。
Disney sued the FCC on August 18, saying the agency is waging a “campaign of censorship” to retaliate against ABC for speech that President Trump doesn’t like. As the lawsuit gets underway, Trump continued his attacks on the media last weekend by demanding that the FCC punish or rebuke an NBC journalist for saying he has “mixed results” in his election endorsements. 迪士尼于 8 月 18 日起诉 FCC，称该机构正在发动一场“审查运动”，以报复 ABC 发表特朗普总统不喜欢的言论。随着诉讼的展开，特朗普上周末继续攻击媒体，要求 FCC 惩罚或谴责一名 NBC 记者，因为该记者称特朗普在选举背书方面“结果好坏参半”。
The FCC filed a motion to dismiss the Disney lawsuit yesterday, defending the early license review that it ordered for the eight broadcast stations owned by ABC. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened ABC over jokes made by Jimmy Kimmel and political content on The View, but the FCC claims the early license review is strictly about other matters and that no decision has been made. FCC 昨日提交了驳回迪士尼诉讼的动议，为其针对 ABC 旗下八家广播电台下令进行的提前执照审查进行辩护。FCC 主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）曾因吉米·坎摩尔（Jimmy Kimmel）的笑话和《观点》（The View）节目中的政治内容威胁过 ABC，但 FCC 声称提前执照审查纯粹是针对其他事项，且目前尚未做出任何决定。
FCC says Chairman Carr is “open-minded”
FCC 称卡尔主席持“开放态度”
The FCC filing in US District Court for the District of Columbia said the proceeding is only about “allegations of unlawful discrimination” related to Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. The FCC wants the court to toss the lawsuit entirely, or at least deny Disney’s request for a preliminary injunction that would halt the license review pending the outcome of litigation. FCC 在提交给哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院的文件中表示，该程序仅涉及与迪士尼多元化、公平和包容性（DEI）政策相关的“非法歧视指控”。FCC 希望法院彻底驳回该诉讼，或者至少拒绝迪士尼提出的初步禁令请求，该禁令旨在在诉讼结果出炉前暂停执照审查。
The FCC said: The Commission’s Chairman has repeatedly emphasized that, although the allegations against Disney are serious, he and the agency remain “open-minded,” have “not made a decision,” and are “going to follow the facts and the law wherever they [lead].” And the renewal process in progress does not abridge or otherwise affect Plaintiffs’ rights. FCC 表示：“委员会主席一再强调，尽管针对迪士尼的指控很严重，但他和该机构仍保持‘开放态度’，‘尚未做出决定’，并将‘遵循事实和法律，无论它们指向何处’。此外，正在进行的续期程序并未削减或以其他方式影响原告的权利。”
Licensees with pending renewal applications are entitled to continue operating without interruption during the license period for the duration of the renewal proceeding—even were it to result in a hearing. In fact, even if the Commission were to deny the stations’ applications, their licenses would remain in effect for however long they might wish to seek judicial review. 持有待处理续期申请的被许可人有权在续期程序期间继续运营，不受干扰——即使该程序最终导致听证会。事实上，即使委员会拒绝了这些电台的申请，只要他们希望寻求司法审查，其执照在审查期间仍将保持有效。
The FCC alleged that Disney’s responses to the commission’s investigative inquiries “were deficient and nonresponsive,” necessitating the order for an early license review. The agency also said the district court lacks jurisdiction because FCC orders are reviewed by circuit appeals courts. FCC 指称，迪士尼对委员会调查质询的回应“存在缺陷且未予回应”，因此有必要下令进行提前执照审查。该机构还表示，地方法院缺乏管辖权，因为 FCC 的命令应由巡回上诉法院进行审查。
“Granting Plaintiffs’ request would mean taking administrative processes off the table before the Commission has seen and analyzed the voluminous evidence,” the FCC said. “This would only hobble the Commission’s efforts to investigate and resolve serious allegations that Disney has engaged in unlawful discrimination, and from otherwise ensuring that Disney’s stations are serving the public interest. Plaintiffs, in return, would only free themselves from the burdens of proving their case in administrative proceedings.” “批准原告的请求意味着在委员会看到并分析大量证据之前，就取消了行政程序，”FCC 表示。“这只会阻碍委员会调查和解决迪士尼参与非法歧视的严重指控，并阻碍其确保迪士尼电台服务于公众利益的努力。作为回报，原告只会让自己从在行政程序中证明其案件的负担中解脱出来。”
In exchange for licenses to use spectrum, “Congress has required broadcasters to operate in the public interest,” the FCC said. “To foreclose the Commission from using all the tools at its disposal to investigate whether Plaintiffs are meeting their statutory and regulatory duties would seriously harm both the government and the public.” FCC 表示，作为使用频谱执照的交换，“国会要求广播公司在公众利益下运营。如果阻止委员会使用其掌握的所有工具来调查原告是否履行了其法定和监管职责，将严重损害政府和公众的利益。”
Watchdogs and viewers don’t want Disney to settle
监管机构和观众不希望迪士尼和解
Disney argued that the license review is inhibiting its right to free speech. The proceeding could “mir[e] ABC in years of costly litigation, with the threat of adverse action ever present and with every editorial judgment shadowed by the prospect of provoking the Administration into further retaliation,” the lawsuit said. 迪士尼辩称，执照审查正在抑制其言论自由权。诉讼称，该程序可能会“使 ABC 陷入多年的昂贵诉讼中，不利行动的威胁始终存在，且每一项编辑判断都笼罩在可能激怒政府并招致进一步报复的阴影之下”。
Disney said ABC is being harmed by the license review during the run-up to this year’s elections. “Plaintiffs must make editorial judgments about how to cover the election in the shadow of a threatened corporate death sentence, and the Commission has every incentive to let that threat loom as long as possible. Nor can that harm be undone after the fact,” Disney said. 迪士尼表示，在今年选举前的准备阶段，ABC 正因执照审查而受到损害。“原告必须在企业面临‘死刑’威胁的阴影下，对如何报道选举做出编辑判断，而委员会完全有动机让这种威胁尽可能长时间地存在。这种损害事后也无法弥补，”迪士尼说道。
In the meantime, there is a dispute between Disney and groups that want to be part of the case against the FCC. Frequency Forward and the Media Action Center filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, saying they want to prevent a settlement between Disney and the FCC. The two groups were joined in the motion to intervene by 18 individuals who are viewers of their local ABC stations. 与此同时，迪士尼与希望参与此案以反对 FCC 的组织之间存在争议。Frequency Forward 和媒体行动中心（Media Action Center）提交了介入诉讼的动议，称他们希望阻止迪士尼与 FCC 达成和解。这两个组织在介入动议中得到了 18 名当地 ABC 电视台观众的支持。
“Proposed Intervenors are FCC watchdog non-profits and regular viewers of ABC stations in their home markets who are harmed by the FCC’s actions and face further harm to the extent the Plaintiffs continue to succumb to the agency’s pressure, possibly by negotiating a settlement which limits the content provided by the ABC stations,” Frequency Forward and the Media Action Center told the court. “拟议的介入方是 FCC 监管非营利组织和其所在市场的 ABC 电视台常客，他们受到 FCC 行为的伤害，如果原告继续屈服于该机构的压力，可能会通过谈判达成限制 ABC 电视台提供内容的和解协议，从而面临进一步的伤害，”Frequency Forward 和媒体行动中心告诉法院。
Although Disney and ABC are advocating for their First Amendment right to be free of governmental interference, “their corporate interests may not necessarily align” with the interests of viewers and the advocacy groups, the filing said. In December 2024, ABC agreed to a $15 million payment to settle a lawsuit that Trump filed over statements made by George Stephanopoulos. 文件称，尽管迪士尼和 ABC 正在倡导其免受政府干预的第一修正案权利，但“他们的企业利益未必与观众和倡导团体的利益一致”。2024 年 12 月，ABC 同意支付 1500 万美元，以和解特朗普因乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯（George Stephanopoulos）的言论而提起的诉讼。
Disney says it will “vigorously” fight censorship
迪士尼称将“大力”打击审查制度
Disney opposed the motion in a filing yesterday, saying the “proposed intervenors lack a legally protected interest because the harm they invoke is harm to Plaintiffs, not to themselves. And the broader injury they claim on behalf of the viewing public is a generalized grievance shared by… 迪士尼在昨日提交的文件中反对该动议，称“拟议的介入方缺乏法律保护的利益，因为他们所引用的伤害是对原告的伤害，而非对他们自身的伤害。而他们代表电视观众所声称的更广泛的伤害，是一种普遍存在的、由……所共有的不满。”