By Eugene Volokh

Copyright reason

ABC pulled Kimmel off the air shortly after Carr’s remark. However, the suspension also followed media giants Nexstar and Sinclair saying they would no longer carry Kimmel’s show on their affiliates.

Thus, one can argue that Carr’s statement did not cause the suspension of Kimmel’s show. Maybe it was just Nexstar and Sinclair that caused it. And maybe Nexstar, which like Disney and Sinclair, has business before the FCC (such as seeking approval to acquire Tegna, another media company, in a $6.2 billion dollar deal), wasn’t influenced by what Carr said. Maybe Kimmel’s weak rating caught up with him.

But even if the decision to suspend Kimmel’s show was based purely on market considerations and nothing Carr said, the head of the FCC had no proper business saying what he did. The government shouldn’t threaten to use its licensing and other powers for the purpose of coercing TV networks into taking action against hosts who say things the government doesn’t like….