ACLJ Celebrates End of Fairness Doctrine

(Washington, D.C.) - America’s airwaves are safe again. After a years-long fight against anti-free speech regulation, the Fairness Doctrine is no more. The end to the Fairness Doctrine, which mandated broadcasters to provide equal airtime to opposing views on controversial issues - regardless of the merit or popularity of the views, came following a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling to eliminate the language from the nation’s regulatory codes.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) today is celebrating a First Amendment victory with the nearly 250,000 Americans who signed its petitions calling for the Doctrine’s ultimate erasure.

“The death of the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine’ is a victory for broadcasters and, more importantly, Americans everywhere,” said Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ Executive Director. “This blow to government-sponsored broadcast censorship sends a powerful message to Washington and the FCC: speech-stifling regulations are unconstitutional and have no place in our free society.”

Despite the win for civil liberties, attacks on free speech and on conservative and Christian broadcasters won’t end with the defeat of the Fairness Doctrine, the ACLJ warned.

“The ACLJ will vigilantly continue to advocate for freedom of speech in the United States and will oppose any government-mandated censorship - whether through regulatory decree or through the legislative process,” said Sekulow.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.