The FCC interpreted the Fairness Doctrine as permitting it to force
broadcast stations to allow responses to personal attacks. The Supreme
Court took up the question of whether this exercise of state power was
compatible with the First Amendment in the 1969 Red Lion Broadcasting v.
FCC case. In a preview of contemporary controversies over conspiracy
theories and fake news, the FCC wanted to compel a Christian radio station
to allow replies to a conservative commentator who alleged plots by the FBI
and CIA in attacking a critic. The Court upheld the constitutionality of the
FCC’s action on the grounds of spectrum scarcity, the uniqueness of
broadcasting, public interest, and the state’s ﬁduciary responsibility (Head
and Sterling 1982, pp. 477–478).
Social_Media_and_Democracy