FCC to Impose Fines for On-Air Expletives

The Federal Communications Commission won a major battle today in its efforts to control and censor all content that is broadcast on television in the United States. The ruling is applicable to a fairly recent change in FCC Policy. Prior to the change, it was assumed that all broadcasters were allowed to have "one free expletive" during live broadcasts, since it was impractical to try to control that those types of outbursts. The two incidents that seem to be driving the case are Cher's saying of the F-word during an awards show in 2002 and Nicole Ritchie's double expletive during an awards show in 2003.

Some 30 years ago, the Supreme court ruled that the FCC could keep expletives off the air during the hours of 6AM to 10PM, or the times when it was most likely that children could have access to televisions.

With the new ruling, an utterance of the F-word and the S-word, in particular, will be greeted with a fine from the FCC. It is important to note, however, that the Supreme Court ruling only approved of the FCC policy as being legal and reasonable. It did not address the constitutionality of the policy or whether it was in line with the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech.

A ruling on that aspect has been deferred to a circuit court for a ruling and it may be some time before that proceeding plays out in court. In the meantime, celebrities will have to watch what they say during the heat of awards shows.