It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time. It
is also a violation of federal law to broadcast indecent or profane
programming during certain hours. The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) defines indecent speech as material that, in context, depicts or
describes sexual or excretory organs or activities in terms patently
offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast
medium.
Congress has given the FCC the responsibility for administratively enforcing
the law that governs these types of broadcasts. The FCC has authority to
issue civil monetary penalties, revoke a license or deny a renewal
application. The FCC vigorously enforces this law where we find violations.
In addition, the United States Department of Justice has authority to pursue
criminal violations. Violators of the law, if convicted in a federal
district court, are subject to criminal fines and/or imprisonment for not
more than two years.
At the same time, however, the Commission is careful of First Amendment
protections and the prohibitions on censorship and interference with
broadcasters' freedom of speech. The FCC has denied complaints in cases in
which we determined the broadcast was not indecent based on the overall
context of the programming.
- Indecency Fact Sheet
- File a Complaint
- FCC Actions [custom search]