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cover of episode “It’s the First Amendment, stupid”

“It’s the First Amendment, stupid”

2024/10/31
logo of podcast Decoder with Nilay Patel

Decoder with Nilay Patel

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Adi Robertson
主持人
专注于电动车和能源领域的播客主持人和内容创作者。
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主持人认为,特朗普及其支持者呼吁FCC撤销电视广播电台的执照,是对新闻机构的惩罚,违反了美国宪法第一修正案保障的言论自由。在正常情况下,富豪们呼吁惩罚新闻机构的行为只是空想,因为重新分配无线电频谱是一个漫长而复杂的过程,并且有强大的游说团体参与其中。惩罚新闻机构的行为违反了美国宪法第一修正案,该修正案保护言论自由,禁止政府制定言论规章或因言论惩罚个人。 Adi Robertson指出,特朗普经常威胁要撤销那些他认为对其不利或对民主党有利的电视台的广播执照,声称这是违反选举规则的行为。广播电台需要获得FCC颁发的执照才能使用有限的无线电频谱,并且必须承诺服务于公众利益。特朗普对媒体的惩罚性措施,部分原因在于电视广播电台拥有稀缺资源(频谱),政府可以利用这一点来进行惩罚。佛罗里达州法院驳回了州卫生部门对播放支持放松堕胎限制广告的电视台的指控,认为这违反了第一修正案。美国宪法第一修正案保护的言论自由范围远超人们的认知,仇恨言论和谎言都是合法的。美国宪法第一修正案简单来说就是国会不得制定任何关于言论自由和出版自由的法律,但该修正案在实践中受到一些限制。美国宪法第一修正案允许限制言论自由的情况非常有限,主要包括煽动暴力和真实威胁。试图利用政府权力来惩罚媒体机构的做法,特别是共和党,是不恰当的,这违背了FCC的既定流程和原则。FCC很少撤销电视台的执照,而且只有在经过漫长而严格的程序后才会发生。目前对媒体的威胁和惩罚措施缺乏正当程序和充分的调查,与以往FCC撤销电视台执照的案例形成鲜明对比。特朗普及其支持者对媒体的威胁并非空穴来风,一些与特朗普政府关系密切的人士认为这些威胁应该付诸实施。埃隆·马斯克认为电视台应该放弃其在现有监管体系下的特权,这在逻辑上是说不通的。马斯克及其支持者认为传统广播电视网是民主党的延伸,因此应该受到惩罚,这种说法与事实严重不符。共和党对广播平台言论监管的态度发生了180度转变,这与他们过去反对政府对广播平台进行任何限制的立场形成鲜明对比。公平主义原则源于广播,旨在确保广播电台报道重要公共问题时,要公平地报道所有方面。公平主义原则要求广播电台在报道公共问题时,要公平地对待所有观点,并为所有观点提供播出时间。最高法院在《红线广播》案中裁定,公平主义原则并不违反第一修正案。《红线广播》案的裁决认为,由于广播电台使用的是公共资源(无线电频谱),政府有权对其进行监管,以确保其服务于公众利益。里根政府废除了公平主义原则,这导致了保守派广播电台的兴起。公平主义原则的废除导致了保守派广播电台的兴起,如拉什·林博的节目。互联网与广播电台不同,它没有频谱稀缺性问题,因此政府对其监管的方式也不同。大型互联网平台是否也像广播电视网一样,拥有如此大的受众群体,以至于政府可以要求其服务于公众利益?与对大型互联网平台实施言论监管相比,拆分这些平台可能更能解决垄断问题,且限制性更小。特朗普将整个监管和司法系统视为打击敌人的武器,而不是一个公平公正的体系。第230条规定,互动式网络服务不应被视为其用户发布内容的出版商或发言人,但这项规定在实践中存在争议。如果取消第230条,互联网平台是否会对用户发布的内容承担更多责任,从而改善互联网环境?取消第230条可能会导致互联网平台做出糟糕的内容审核决策,要么过于宽松,要么过于严格,从而限制言论自由。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The episode begins by explaining what a broadcast license is and why politicians like Trump are threatening to revoke it, focusing on the recent case involving CBS and the 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
  • Broadcast licenses are granted by the FCC and are tied to local affiliate stations, not the networks themselves.
  • Trump has a history of calling for the revocation of licenses for news coverage he dislikes, viewing it as a form of election interference.

Shownotes Transcript

Trump and a bunch of billionaires, like Elon Musk, are calling for the FCC to punish TV stations by revoking their licenses and using the spectrum for other stuff. In a normal world, this would be idle billionaire wishcasting. Punishing news organizations is one of those things we have a First Amendment to protect against. You know — the one that protects free speech by prohibiting the government from making speech regulations or punishing people for what they say?  

But, it turns out, there is a long and complex history of the government regulating speech on broadcast platforms like radio and television — and that history dovetails into many of the problems we have regulating tech companies and social platforms today. Verge senior tech and policy editor Adi Robertson joins me to dive in.

**Links: **

  • The Verge guide to the 2024 US presidential election | The Verge)

  • FCC chair rejects Trump’s call to revoke CBS license over Harris interview | The Verge)

  • Florida official who resigned after letter to TV stations blames DeSantis’ office | MSNBC)

  • “To keep it simple for the state of Florida: It’s the First Amendment, stupid” | The Verge)

  • How America turned against the First Amendment | The Verge)

  • Why Sen. Brian Schatz thinks child safety can trump the First Amendment | The Verge)

  • How the Kids Online Safety Act puts us all at risk | The Verge)

  • Here’s a bunch of bananas shit Trump said today about breaking up Google | The Verge)

  • Barack Obama on AI, free speech, and the future of the internet | The Verge)

  • Why you’re seeing those gross political ads during the World Series | The Verge)

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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