Rand Paul: “Americans are right to be outraged at much of the content of broadcast television and radio today. Too many television…”

“Americans are right to be outraged at much of the content of broadcast television and radio today. Too many television and radio programs regularly mock the values of millions of Americans and feature lewd, inappropriate conduct. It is totally legitimate and even praiseworthy for people to use market forces, such as boycotts of the sponsors of the offensive programs, to pressure networks to remove objectionable programming. However, it is not legitimate for Congress to censor broadcast programs. The First Amendment says, ``Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech. . . .'' It does not make an expectation for broadcast television. Some argue that broadcast speech is different because broadcasters are using the ``people's airwaves.'' Of course, the people do not really control the airwaves any more than the people control the government in the People's Republic of China. Instead, the people's airwaves is a euphemism for government control of the airwaves. Of course, government exceeded its Constitutional authority when it nationalized the broadcast industry. Furthermore, there was no economic justification for Congress determining who is, and is not, allowed to access the broadcast spectrum.”