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Hi, welcome back to COMM122 Podcast. Part three on the topic of Media regulations. In this episode, we will discuss regulations targeting media content. The most extreme end of media regulation is censorship. You can check out the recent incident involving South Park in China where the government took down all of its episodes, because the show commented on China’s political situation. Content regulation in the form of outright censorship is quite common in many authoritarian societies, but it is rare in western democracies. Here in the US, the First Amendment prevents the government from making laws that abridge freedom of speech. However, this protection of free speech is not absolute. There are exceptions to what is protected by the First Amendment. For instance, while political speech is generally protected, commercial speech such as advertising is subject to varying degrees of regulations. One example is tobacco advertising, which has been banned on television since 1971. As we discuss several examples of content regulations, keep in mind that different rationales for regulations are applied, depending on what kind of speech, who is involved and what media are used. Governments and legislative bodies are just one of many types of regulators. Let’s revisit a point made in an earlier episode. There are formal regulations implemented by the government and official regulatory bodies. There are also informal regulations, which are rules and norms implemented outside the purview of the government and official regulatory bodies. Informal regulations are also called self-regulation, which is the type of regulation enforced by companies or trade associations. In previous episodes, we discussed examples of informal and formal regulation, do you remember any of that? Yes, movie ratings in the US, for example, are the result of self-regulation because it is enforced by the Motion Picture Association of America. Next, we focus on different pieces of content regulations implemented by the official regulatory bodies. In this case, FCC, and FTC, Federal Trade Commission.The first piece of regulation is about Obscenity, Indecency and Profanity. Notice the bleep censor? Federal law prohibits obscene, indecent and profane content from being broadcast on the radio or TV. However, because of different moral codes and cultural values, the public and regulators may fight what is considered obscene, indecent and profane. Here, FCC takes a somewhat common-sense approach, called, “you know it when you see it.” This standard appeals to our moral gut-feeling and has been adopted from a Supreme Court’s case in 1964. In the case on obscenity and pornography, Justice Stewart Potter wrote: “I know it when I see it.” Based on this regulation, obscene content is prohibited at all times on broadcast TV, radio, as well as cable, satellite TV and satellite radio. Indecent and profane content is prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. This is the time when the broadcast TV audience likely includes children. The same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services.The second piece of a regulation enforced by the FCC is about educational programming. The Children's Television Act requires U.S. broadcast television stations to air content designed to serve the educational and informational needs of children. It also limits the number of advertisements during children's programs. In July of 2019, FCC voted to revise some of the rules about children's education programming. Some of the changes are: stations can carry educational/informational programming as early as 6 a.m., rather than 7 a.m. Stations can also turn ongoing series into short-form content. According to the FCC, the old rule was outdated and the new rule is put in place to account for the fragmentation in viewing behavi