FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New York, Aug. 18, 2026 — Disney has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the Federal Communications Commission — led by Donald Trump loyalist Brendan Carr — is violating its First Amendment rights by manufacturing pretexts to retaliate against it for ABC News reporting the president doesn’t like.

The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern:

“It’s about time for someone to take Carr and his FCC to court over their endless campaign of intimidation and retaliation against journalism that displeases Carr’s thin-skinned boss. No matter what pretexts he asserts, Carr’s modus operandi is clear: to serve as Trump’s censorship czar and abuse his office to repeatedly and exclusively target Trump’s perceived adversaries in the media, whether through sham proceedings or threatening letters and X posts. Carr knows the FCC is not the journalism police and said so regularly himself before he decided to throw away any integrity he once had to kiss up to Trump. Countless others whose First Amendment rights have been chilled by Carr’s antics should follow Disney’s lead.”

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