WASHINGTON—Citing a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Democratic Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez is arguing that the regulator has “no right” to pressure companies to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The 5th Circuit on May 19 ruled that the FCC does not have the authority to collect race, sex and ethnic data on Form 395-B. The agency had collected that data between 1970 and 2001. The practice was restored near the end of the Biden administration for broadcasters, but the data was not collected.
Reacting to the ruling, Gomez issued a statement saying: “It’s a shame the court struck down reasonable transparency measures designed to shed light on the media market. But its broader message was unmistakable: the current FCC has no right to weaponize its authority against lawful, merit-based hiring decisions by private companies or target them because of their use of terms like diversity, equity and inclusion.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr eliminated DEI programs at the agency and has made the elimination of such programs one of his top priorities, launching a series of investigations that would significantly expand the FCC regulation over the private work forces of media and telecommunications companies.
As part of that push, the FCC has launched investigations into the DEI practices of The Walt Disney Co., Comcast and Verizon Communications and has used its regulatory power to gain significant concessions from companies.
Earlier this year, Disney and PBS agreed to end their DEI programs, while Verizon agreed to end its DEI efforts to win FCC approval for its $20 billion takeover of Frontier Communications.
Echoing sentiments expressed by other critics of the agency, including a number of former FCC commissioners, Gomez also argued that the DEI crackdown was really about silencing media critics of the Trump administration.
“The FCC’s ideological crusade has never been about fairness—it’s about control,” she said. “It’s a new and dangerous form of speech policing that has no place in a free society. We must continue to defend the First Amendment from those who use it as a weapon against the very freedoms it protects.”
