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Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act of 2025
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that the Federal Communications Commission may not take action against a broadcast licensee or any other person on the basis of viewpoint, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would amend the Communications Act to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from revoking broadcast licenses or taking action against broadcasters based on the viewpoints they express. It would also prohibit the FCC from placing conditions on license transfers or acquisitions based on viewpoints. The bill includes exceptions allowing the FCC to take action for violations of obscenity, fraud, or indecency laws, and for speech constituting incitement under the First Amendment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)
5 cosponsors
- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO)
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV)
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
Actions (2)
- Mar 5, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. · senate
- Mar 5, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 5, 2025
Mr. Lujan (for himself, Ms. Rosen, and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that the Federal Communications Commission may not take action against a broadcast licensee or any other person on the basis of viewpoint, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Federal Communications Commission (in this section referred to as the “FCC”) was established as an independent agency by the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) for the purpose of “regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nation- wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges. . .”.
(2) Commissioners at the FCC, an independent agency, are confirmed by Congress for specified terms and the President does not have the power to remove them at will.
(3) The independence of the FCC is paramount to the FCC carrying out its mission without political pressure or intimidation.
(4) The FCC’s priorities and agenda must be set by the FCC without undue influence from the President or any advisors to the President who do not work for the FCC.
(5) As established in section 326 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 326), nothing in the FCC’s authority “shall be understood or construed to give the Commission the power of censorship over the radio communications or signals transmitted by any radio station, and no regulation or condition shall be promulgated or fixed by the Commission which shall interfere with the right of free speech by means of radio communication”.
(6) Investigations and threats of Commission action or inaction must not be used to suppress certain viewpoints or intimidate broadcast licensees into aligning with any political agenda.
SEC. 3. VIEWPOINT PROTECTION.
Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 14. VIEWPOINT PROTECTION.
“(a) Prohibition Against Retaliation on Basis of Viewpoint.—The Commission may not revoke any license or other authorization of, or otherwise take action against, any person on the basis, in whole or in part, of viewpoints broadcast or otherwise disseminated by that person or any person affiliated with that person.
“(b) Prohibition Against Conditions on Viewpoint in Transaction Review.—The Commission may not place on any approval under subsections
(a), (b), and (c) of section 214 or section 310(d) any condition with respect to viewpoints broadcast or otherwise disseminated by the person seeking that approval, any successor of that person, or any person affiliated with that person or successor.
“(c) No Effect on Certain Other Authority of Commission.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the authority of the Commission to take action on the basis of, or to place a condition on an approval described in subsection (b) with respect to—
“(1) a violation of—
“(A) section 1304 of title 18, United States Code, or conduct that would constitute a violation of that section if content disseminated by means other than radio or television broadcast were disseminated by means of radio or television broadcast;
“(B) section 1343 of title 18, United States Code; or
“(C) section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, or conduct that would constitute a violation of that section if content disseminated by means other than radio communication were disseminated by means of radio communication; or
“(2) the broadcast or other dissemination of content that constitutes incitement under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”. <all>
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