Permitted Profanity and the FCC

A lawyer's read on FCC language rules

Chris Brandlin walks through FCC profanity and obscenity rules — what broadcasters can and cannot say, and why the line sits where it does.

The distinctions are narrower than most people assume. Obscenity, indecency, and profanity are three separate legal categories with different tests and different remedies, and they apply differently to broadcast radio and television than to cable or streaming. The safe-harbor hours matter too: the same words carry different consequences at 10pm than at 10am. The prohibition itself sits in 18 U.S.C. § 1464, and the broadcast rules that implement it are in 47 CFR Part 73.

This is one of the clips where the law practice does the talking rather than the campaign. It is a working attorney explaining a body of regulation he has had to apply.

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General information, not legal advice.