TV Indecency

Filed in archive Announcements on June 11, 2007

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the Federal Communications Commission when the FCC decided that Fox was guilty of indecency for the utterance of two expletives in live programming.

Here is the FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin, responding to that decision:

"Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the use of the words 'fuck' and 'shit' by Cher and Nicole Richie was not indecent. I completely disagree with the Court's ruling and am disappointed for American families. I find it hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that 'shit' and 'fuck' are fine to say on broadcast television during the hours when children are most likely to be in the audience. The court even says the Commission is 'divorced from reality.' It is the New York court, not the Commission, that is divorced from reality in concluding that the word 'fuck' does not invoke a sexual connotation. These words were used in prime time, when children were watching."