The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau launched an investigation into Comcast for allegedly “promoting invidious forms of DEI in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations.” The FCC’s action follows President Donald Trump’s executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government and directing U.S. agencies to “encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI.”
Comcast said it will cooperate with the FCC to address any questions. Three former FCC chairs have taken the rare step of publicly criticizing FCC Chairman Brendan Carr over these and other major concerns relating to press freedom, warning that his actions threaten free speech rights.
Watch the video above as Straight Arrow News contributor Adrienne Lawrence agrees with the former FCC heads and says that targeting private companies for embracing DEI is not just government overreach but “a blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
The following is an excerpt from the above video:
This is government coercion, plain and simple, and if they succeed in strong-arming Comcast into submission, where does it stop? Will the FCC investigate news organizations for reporting on racial injustice? Will corporations be barred from running pro-LGBTQ+ ad campaigns? Will tech companies face punishment for moderating disinformation on their platforms?
This is the slippery slope of authoritarianism. Let’s be clear, you don’t have to support DEI to be outraged by this. You just have to believe in the First Amendment, because today, it’s DEI that’s under attack, tomorrow, it could be corporate climate commitments. It could be newsrooms, independents, it could be our democracy.
The moment we allow the government to dictate what private entities can say and believe, we have stepped into dangerous territory. This is not about diversity, it’s about democracy, and if we don’t fight back now, we may wake up one day in a country where free speech is a privilege, not a right.
