Trump admin probe into ABC amid Kimmel row sparks US free speech concerns

President Donald Trump’s critics and free speech advocates in the United States are decrying a decision by his administration to review the broadcast licences of several ABC channels, calling the move “unconstitutional”. The probe by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), announced on Tuesday, followed Trump and his wife, Melania, calling for the firing of ABC host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he told last week. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list “The FCC’s unconstitutional threats against ABC are the latest confirmation that Chairman Brendan Carr has weaponised what should be an independent agency in service of Donald Trump’s personal political agenda,” Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders in North America, said in a statement. “The FCC has no authority to revoke ABC’s licences just because the president can’t take a joke.” The FCC said it launched the investigation into the eight local ABC channels, compelling them to file for early licence renewal, over diversity measures that amount to possible “unlawful discrimination”. But critics have underscored the timing of the review amid the Kimmel controversy. “Must be a total coincidence that the FCC launched this probe right after Jimmy Kimmel told another joke Trump didn’t like,” US Senator Chris Van Hollen , a Democrat, wrote on X. …