By Angele Latham
A free speech legal group in Nashville has pushed back on a recent Federal Communications Commission inquiry into television programming involving “gender identity” issues, calling the move constitutionally concerning.
The Future of Free Speech, an international free speech advocacy think tank based in Nashville, filed comments responding to a recent FCC inquiry that debates whether current television ratings systems should provide additional disclosures for programming that contains “gender identity themes.”
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Attorneys at the Future of Free Speech argued that this new inquiry departs from previous standards set by the FCC, which rated shows based on conduct like violence, sexual themes or explicit language, and instead focuses on broad ideological themes with little actual definition.
“The FCC’s notice is so vague that it is impossible to determine what programming would actually trigger the kind of labeling the agency appears to be contemplating,” said Ashkhen Kazaryan, senior legal fellow at The Future of Free Speech and author of the filing. “That lack of clarity is itself a serious First Amendment problem because it invites arbitrary enforcement and political pressure around protected expression.”
Kazaryan, in a statement about the issue, also argued that the FCC’s inquiry “risks pressuring private media companies and ratings boards to adopt government-preferred messaging on contested social issues”— something the Supreme Court has explicitly denounced in multiple cases.
Kazaryan said such pressure would amount to viewpoint discrimination, a legal standard that is banned under First Amendment protections.
“The Constitution does not allow the government to stigmatize particular viewpoints or categories of people through regulatory labeling schemes,” she said.
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Ashkhen Kazaryan is a Senior Legal Fellow at The Future of Free Speech, where she leads initiatives to protect free expression and shape policies that uphold the First Amendment in the digital age.