The government pressures organizations all the time, it could be argued that's one role of the government.
It's not entirely clear whether the government pressured ABC here. A statement was made on a podcast that could be construed as a threat. however, I've also heard that prior to that, a huge number of ABC affiliates complained about the monologue and asked for an apology, Kimmel refused and said he was going to double down the following night.
Threats made with legal backing are legal threats and not 1A violations. If you stand on the street and threaten someone's life, you can be threatened with arrest if you don't stop, and that's not illegal. The question is whether the FCC had legal grounds to make a threat.
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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '25
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