Regulation of Broadcast Indecency: Background and Legal Analysis

Two prominent television events in the past two years placed increased attention on the FCC and its indecency regulations. The airing of the 2003 Golden Globe Awards and the subsequent ruling by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, coupled with the controversy surrounding the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, brought broadcast indecency to the forefront of the congressional agenda during the 108th Congress. Several bills were introduced, but not enacted, in the 108th Congress to increase the penalties imposed for broadcast indecency and to prohibit the broadcast of certain words and phrases in any grammatical form. Similar legislation has been introduced in the 109th Congress