Recently, in the comments section for a Forum article related to the Charlie Kirk killing, somebody posted a claim I have seen elsewhere on the internet. The claim is that the FCC does not permit anyone to tell a lie related to a crime or a catastrophe. Therefore, Jimmy Kimmel violated the FCC regulation and should have been fired. (47 CFR § 73.1217)

There’s a more to it than that. The licensee has to 1) know the information is false; 2) it is foreseeable that broadcasting the information will cause substantial public harm; and 3) actual public harm does result. The public harm must begin immediately after the broadcast and cause direct and actual damage to property or the health and safety of the general public, or a diversion of law enforcement or other public health authorities from th

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