Washington [US], September 21: ABC's abrupt suspension of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, opens new tab under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission is the latest demonstration of the power President Donald Trump wields to bend media, entertainment and digital platforms to his will, as he uses political pressure to mute criticism and punish institutions he sees as biased against him.
The move, which came after Kimmel's remarks about the accused killer of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has jolted the U.S. media and entertainment industries and intensified free-speech fears as the Trump-appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcast licenses from stations that carry what he called "garbage."
Major media and tech companies are now controlled by Trump supporters or billionaire business leaders who lined up behind Trump during his inauguration, donated to his inaugural fund, or visited the White House bearing gifts.
Billionaire GOP donor Larry Ellison's Oracle is part of a consortium of investors, opens new tab with the inside track to take control of the U.S. operations of the video-sharing platform TikTok.
This week, the Trump administration announced it had agreed to a framework for a deal with China that would allow the sale of TikTok's U.S. assets to continue to operate in the U.S.
Companies such as CBS, Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, and the editorial pages of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times have made editorial or operational changes following Trump's re-election in ways that lay the groundwork for less adversarial coverage of the president.
The decision Wednesday night is the second time since Trump's re-election that ABC parent company Walt Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab has taken action in response to on-air comments. In December, ABC News agreed to give $15 million to Trump's presidential library to settle a lawsuit Trump had filed over remarks that anchor George Stephanopoulos made involving sex abuse claims brought against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
