U.S. court says FCC cannot compel broadcasters to verify sponsors' identities

The court noted that the FCC had raised concerns "that the Chinese and Russian governments have been secretly leasing air time to broadcast propaganda on American radio." The FCC rules, which were finalized in April 2021, require foreign-government sponsorship disclosure at the time of a broadcast if a foreign governmental entity paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material. "The FCC cannot require radio broadcasters to check federal sources to verify sponsors' identities," Judge Justin Walker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia wrote for the three-judge panel.

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday struck down a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirement that broadcasters check federal sources to verify sponsors' identities. The court noted that the FCC had raised concerns "that the Chinese and Russian governments have been secretly leasing air time to broadcast propaganda on American radio." The FCC rules, which were finalized in April 2021, require foreign-government sponsorship disclosure at the time of a broadcast if a foreign governmental entity paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material.

"The FCC cannot require radio broadcasters to check federal sources to verify sponsors' identities," Judge Justin Walker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia wrote for the three-judge panel. The rules took effect in March for new leasing agreements and needed to be implemented within about six months for existing agreements. Prior rules did not specify when and how foreign government sponsorship should be publicly disclosed.

The National Association of Broadcasters challenged the FCC rule requiring independent checks, arguing it would result in "onerous requirements to ... conduct independent research on all the entities with whom broadcasters currently or will in the future have lease agreements." The group said the rules would pose "investigative burdens on every single lease, for any amount of air time, entered into by thousands of local radio and television stations."

The issue took on new urgency in the aftermath of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. The FCC did not immediately comment on Tuesday. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in March that "it is essential that audiences know when a broadcast station has been compensated to air content coming from a foreign government."

Last year, Rosenworcel said "we know that foreign entities are purchasing time on broadcast stations in markets across the country, including Chinese government-sponsored programming and Russian government-sponsored programming right here in our nation's capital."