ThinkTankWeekly

The FCC Wants to Police Your Polls

CATO | 2026-10-21 | society

Topics: United States

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English Summary

The article argues that the FCC's attempt to regulate 'fake' polls and journalistic ethics constitutes an unconstitutional overreach designed to chill political speech. The author asserts that the FCC lacks the authority to judge journalistic standards or determine if polls constitute election interference, arguing that the public interest standard is subjective and prone to political abuse. The piece highlights the dangerous discrepancy between broadcast censorship and the freedom of speech in print or online media. For policy, the author advocates for removing the FCC's regulatory powers over speech, suggesting that the broadcast spectrum should be treated as a tradable property right rather than a government-managed resource.

中文摘要

本文主張,聯邦通信委員會(FCC)試圖規範「虛假」民調和新聞學倫理的行為,構成了一種違憲的越權行為,其目的在於壓制政治言論。作者指出,FCC缺乏判斷新聞學標準或認定民調是否構成選舉干預的權力,並認為「公眾利益標準」本身具有主觀性,容易遭受政治濫用。文章強調了廣播審查與印刷或線上媒體言論自由之間存在的危險落差。在政策層面,作者主張應取消FCC對言論的監管權力,建議將廣播頻譜視為可交易的財產權,而非政府管理的資源。

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