Disney Faces FCC Investigation Over DEI Practices

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the top regulatory body for television and satellite content in the U.S., has launched an investigation into Walt Disney Company and its ABC broadcasting subsidiary to determine if their hiring practices comply with the FCC’s equal employment opportunity regulations. “I want to ensure that Disney and ABC have not violated FCC rules promoting diversity, equality, and inclusion,” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a letter to Walt Disney Company’s general counsel, Bob Iger. According to the letter, concerns have arisen that Disney may be promoting diversity in ways that could conflict with FCC regulations. “Disney started over a century ago as an iconic American company,” Carr stated. “For decades, Disney focused on achieving practical and programming successes. But then, something changed. Disney has now become entangled in controversies surrounding diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) policies,” he emphasized. Carr noted that “numerous reports” suggest Disney executives have engaged in forms of discrimination that have “tainted” the company’s decision-making process. The Communications Act and FCC rules prohibit entities like Disney and ABC from discriminating based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender, Carr mentioned. A Disney representative stated, “We look forward to working with the commission to answer their questions.” In his letter, FCC Chairman Carr clarified that he aims to ensure the media company ends all initiatives that introduce discrimination in substance, not just on paper.