'Dangerous': FCC puts DeSantis on notice over threats to prosecute Florida TV stations

Erik De La Garza
October 9, 2024 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at Lynchburg, Virginia, on April 14, 2023. (Shutterstock.com)

The Federal Communications Commission aimed at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) Tuesday for his administration’s threats to criminally prosecute Florida television stations if they refuse to stop running a political advertisement supportive of a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the Sunshine State.

“The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement Tuesday. “Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”

The war of words erupted in response to a cease-and-desist letter the state Department of Health sent to television stations last week. The warning letter stems from a political ad featuring a woman who was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago while pregnant with her second child, the Miami Herald reported.

In the ad, the woman says Florida’s six-week abortion ban would have prevented her from receiving a life-saving abortion, according to the publication.

Nearly a week after the state issued its warning, the ad continues to play. Attorneys representing a political action committee sponsoring the abortion ballot measure also issued a defiant legal letter in which they call threats by the DeSantis administration an “unconstitutional state action,” the Florida newspaper noted.

If the advertisement was not taken down within 24 hours, the general counsel for the state agency, John Wilson, said TV stations could face criminal prosecution, adding that “creating, keeping, or maintaining a nuisance injurious to health is a second-degree misdemeanor” under state law, according to the Herald.

The FCC chair said in her statement directed at Florida officials that she had previously spoken out following the presidential debate in September by rejecting calls by Trump to revoke ABC’s license.