Disney and ABC have filed a lawsuit against the US media regulator to stop an early check on their TV licenses, calling it illegal political punishment.
Entertainment giant Disney and its news division ABC have dragged America’s television regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, to a federal court in Washington to stop an unexpected review of their TV broadcast licenses.
The major legal battle kicked off on August 18, 2026, after the government agency ordered eight local ABC television stations to apply for early license renewals years ahead of their normal 2028 schedule.
Disney asked the judge for an urgent order to halt the entire process before government officials can take away their licenses or force them into lengthy court hearings.
The trouble started when US President Donald Trump publicly criticized ABC News coverage, political talk shows like The View, and late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for making jokes about his family and government.
Following those complaints from the White House, the head of the media regulatory agency, Brendan Carr, ordered a sudden license check on Disney’s TV stations.
Officials claimed they were looking into the company’s internal workplace policies and checking if the channel works in the interest of everyday people.
However, free speech groups and company lawyers say the government is simply using its power to bully a media business it dislikes.
In their official court papers, Disney and ABC clearly accused the government of trying to silence journalists and entertainers who speak out.
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Explaining why they decided to fight back, Disney stated in the lawsuit that “acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts”.
The network also warned that this situation creates an “existential threat” to free speech across the entire nation.
Support for Disney’s legal action came quickly from inside the media agency itself. Pushing back against the sudden license check, Anna Gomez, a member of the regulatory commission, stated, “For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like”.
In simple terms, the company that owns ABC is going to court because government leaders tried to punish them for TV shows and news reports they didn’t like.
Now, a judge must decide if the government is allowed to use TV licenses to force media companies to show only what politicians want to see.
