The FCC is facing intense scrutiny as Disney claims its license renewal order is tied to politically motivated ABC reporting.
Published August 18, 2026
Disney has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in an effort to block early licensing reviews for eight ABC-owned and operated stations across the United States.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the media giant claimed that the early renewal was an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to blackmail the company after infuriating it.
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In April, the FCC ordered the network’s stations, including affiliates in New York and Los Angeles, to submit license renewals ahead of schedule, even though six of the stations were less than halfway through their current terms. The station closest to the deadline is WTVD in Durham, North Carolina, which has a deadline of December 2028. The agency said the move was part of a political “revenge campaign.”
“Time and time again, the administration has attacked ABC’s speech, including the stories reported by its journalists and the views aired on network programming. Over time, these attacks escalated to explicit demands that ABC’s broadcast license be revoked for its speech,” the 46-page complaint states.
The lawsuit alleges that the president submitted a series of Truth Social posts threatening the network in 2025, including one that said “the network should have its license revoked for unfairly covering Republicans and conservatives.”
The FCC said its license renewal call in April was the result of an investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices at ABC’s parent company, Disney, and the ABC network’s talk show show, “The View.”
In March, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened broadcasters that broadcast “fake news” could have their licenses revoked, citing President Trump’s dissatisfaction with coverage of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Shortly thereafter, President Trump demanded that ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for his comments in which he referred to first lady Melania Trump as a “pregnant widow” before the White House correspondent’s dinner shooting. President Trump responded after the shootings, calling them a “call to violence.”
Free speech advocates have praised the ABC for the lawsuit.
“It’s time for someone to take Brendan Carr and the FCC to court over Mr. Carr’s shallow boss’ endless campaign of intimidation and retaliation against journalism he doesn’t like,” Seth Stern, advocacy director at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told Al Jazeera.
“Whatever pretext he claims, Carr’s modus operandi is clear: serve as Trump’s censorship czar and abuse his position to repeatedly and exclusively target Trump’s perceived opponents in the media through false proceedings, threatening letters, X-posts, and more.”
The network asked for an “expedited hearing” on the complaint and a temporary restraining order.
Disney shares rose 1.1% in morning trading on news of the lawsuit.
