The Communications Act forbids broadcasters from censoring a political candidate’s campaign ads; accordingly, the Supreme Court says broadcasters can’t be held liable for false claims made in those ads.
But the same isn’t necessarily true for unfounded attacks made in ads paid for by political action committees and other non-candidate groups, as broadcast lawyer David Oxenford explains in a new write-up.
“While these legal actions are not common, they do occur, and stations must take seriously any claim that a political ad that they are running is false,” Oxenford explains, noting that if a PAC or non-candidate ad is defamatory against an individual, “it could result in civil liability to the station.”
Read Oxenford’s full write-up HERE.
