The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), apparently unaware that many TVs now have an ‘off’ switch, are intending (via) to recommend that Congress enact legislation to give the government unprecedented powers to curb violence in entertainment programming, according to government and TV industry sources.

The FCC has long had the power to to fine broadcasters for transmitting sexually suggestive, or “indecent” - your definition is as good as mine, here - and a tightening of these rules last year has already had a free speech impact in the US. But now it wants the same vaguely defined and wholly excessive powers to decide the level of violence that viewers should be allowed to choose to see.

First Amendment experts and television industry executives, however, say that any attempt to regulate TV violence faces high constitutional hurdles — particularly regarding cable, because consumers choose to buy its programming.

Further, any laws governing TV violence would have to define what violence is. The FCC report contains broad guidelines but leaves the details up to Congress.

Adam D. Thierer, a senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation who writes extensively on government regulation of the media, pointed out that the tools to preventing children from seeing violent content is in the hands of the parents - literally.

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post