F-Bombs OK? FCC Asks If It Should Ease Swearing, Nudity Ban

Should the Federal Communications Commission lighten up on enforcing its ban on swear words and nudity on broadcast media?

The agency has proposed doing just that—letting "fleeting" violations slide and enforcing its rules only for "egregious" offenses.

The FCC invited comments for 60 days on the enforcement change in an April 1, 2013 announcement (click on PDF thumnail).

Waldemar Holznagel of Richfield submitted this comment to the FCC on April 8:

"Please do not change the current broadcasting standards that ban explicit profanity and "non-sexual" nudity. Our families are already bombarded by too much inuendo in television and advertising media. Help us control those raging teen hormones and keep high standards in our speech. This next generation will be the leaders of our nation someday. God help us if Bevis & Butthead are the idols of our youth."

Comments submitted to the FCC are public. You can see them by searching a comment database at the FCC website.

The Minnesota Family Council sent an email April 9 (click on PDF thumbnail) asking people to submit comments such as: "I oppose any changes to the current FCC indecency standards that would allow television and radio stations to broadcast expletives and nudity on the public airwaves, even if brief or 'fleeting.'”

Would you like the FCC to ease its enforcement of indecency rules on TV and radio broadcasters? Leave a comment below.

Click on the YouTube thumbnail (or visit YouTube.com) for an example of the "fleeting expletives" behind the U.S. Supreme Court case cited by the FCC. It's Cher at the 2002 Billboard Music Awards (6:00 mark—profanity warning).

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