Less Burdensome Foreign-Content ID Order Approved 4-0
A unanimously approved FCC order requiring disclosures on broadcasts of content sponsored by foreign governments has more relaxed diligence requirements than the draft version, agency officials told us. It may not have loosened enough to satisfy industry, sector officials said. “We streamlined the nature and frequency of the compliance requirements placed on the broadcasters,” said Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey on a media call Thursday after the commissioners' meeting. NAB said the order didn’t sufficiently focus on the “handful” of stations airing foreign government-sponsored programming and creates burdens “for the vast majority of broadcasters that do not air this content.” Broadcasters indicate a legal challenge is possible (see 2104200074).
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The final order requires all stations engaging in leasing agreements with other entities to check the Foreign Agents Registration Act and FCC databases on foreign agents to see if they must air disclosures on the leased content. Carey said the final version doesn’t include requirements from the draft that broadcasters perform internet searches to determine a leasing partner’s affiliations, and it also did away with a requirement that broadcasters perform these “reasonable diligence” checks every six months on ongoing leasing partners. Though less stringent, the final requirements will be extremely burdensome to smaller broadcasters such as minimally staffed radio stations, said industry attorneys.
Outlets that air content sponsored by foreign governments, such as that from apparently state-controlled media outlets like Rossiya Segodnya, will be required to air disclosures at the beginning and end of the broadcasts and keep records in their public inspection files. Carey said the order doesn’t include specific base forfeiture amounts for violating the rule. She compared the issue to FCC enforcement actions on sponsorship identification violations. She said the item is “a big initiative,” and the FCC tends to be rigorous about enforcement in such matters. Because the portions of the item that require broadcasters to check the Foreign Agents Registration Act and FCC databases require additional OMB approval, they're likely to take effect later than the rest of the order, Carey said.
The order responded to requests to the FCC since 2017 from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told journalists. “The American people have a right to know when a foreign adversary is buying up time on airwaves owned by the American public to broadcast anti-American propaganda,” said Eshoo in a release. “Russian state-sponsored media outlets RT and Sputnik meddled in our 2016 elections and have continued to undermine trust in our democracy.”
“Given the stakes, we aim to ensure that all foreign government-sponsored broadcasts are properly identified as such," said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. "It is therefore reasonable to require every licensee that leases airtime under the circumstances described herein to exercise reasonable diligence.”
Asked about NAB arguments that the rule’s focus on broadcasters is asymmetric regulation, Rosenworcel said it was based on specific language in the Communications Act and cited the unanimous, bipartisan support at the agency. Commissioner Brendan Carr said he supported the item partly because he voted for it when it was raised as an NPRM by the previous administration. "I’m not going to flip and flop on that,” he said at his news conference. He said he would support the FCC using its authority to apply similar requirements to other media that use foreign government-sponsored content.