Disney, ABC sue US regulator over threat to broadcast licenses

WASHINGTON: Walt Disney-owned ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday, accusing the US regulatory body of waging a retaliatory campaign against the television network on behalf of the Trump administration.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Washington, comes after the FCC earlier this year asked ABC TV stations to renew their broadcast licenses earlier than scheduled.

“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the suit says.

“Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

President Donald Trump has personally lashed out at ABC — particularly the network’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel — on numerous occasions and suggested revoking the broadcast licenses of stations he claims are “almost 100% negative” towards him.

The famously litigious Republican president has filed a number of defamation lawsuits against media outlets, including suing ABC over statements about a civil judgment in a sexual assault case.