On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC’s indecency rules are unconstitutional (a violation of first amendment rights) and vague. Among the reasons cited by the court: the internet –
“We face a media landscape that would have been almost unrecognizable in 1978. Cable television was still in its infancy. The Internet was a project run out of the Department of Defense with several hundred users. Not only did YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter not exist, but their founders were either still in diapers or not yet conceived.”
Part of the reason for the original ruling was that broadcast television was pervasive in our lives and there was no ability to block it. But now broadcast TV exists in a media landscape that also contains cable and the internet as well as parental controls.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
