FCC To Investigate Stephen Colbert Over Controversial Trump Joke: Chairman.”
“FCC To Investigate, ‘Take Appropriate Action’ on Colbert’s Trump Rant.”
“The FCC Is Investigating Stephen Colbert’s Controversial Trump Joke.”
These are the headlines over the weekend from NBC News, The Hill, and Slate, respectively, regarding a new FCC investigation regarding a lewd joke by NBC late night comedian Stephen Colbert. Colbert, you’ll recall, joked that President Trump was Vladimir Putin’s “c*** holster.”
There is something that these headlines seem to neglect: it is standard procedure for the FCC to investigate possible violations of regulation based on complaints. In other words, this wasn’t President Trump calling up the FCC and siccing the dogs on Colbert – it was members of the general public filing complaints with the FCC, and the FCC responding as it always does. In fact, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said last Wednesday, “The FCC – outside of our decency rules – we don’t get into the business of regulating content…it’s a free country.” He added, “People are willing and able to say anything these days…That’s one of the things we have to respect going forward, what the courts have said about our legal power in this area. By and large, unless it’s indecent, profane, obscene under our rules or as interpreted by the Supreme Court, the FCC’s authority here is pretty limited.”
