Free-Expression Groups and Creative Labor Unions Call on the Senate to Protect Free Speech and Root Out Corruption in Review of Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, 11 civil-rights, free-expression, consumer-protection and creative professional organizations and unions called on the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights to prioritize free speech and investigate corruption in its review of the competing bids from Netflix and Paramount Skydance to take over Warner Bros. Discovery.
“This administration has repeatedly abused its merger-review power to influence the editorial choices of merging media entities,” the groups write in a letter to subcommittee leadership, which convened a hearing on the matter with Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer Bruce Campbell on Tuesday. “We request this subcommittee’s diligent oversight to ensure careful application of antitrust law, uphold the First Amendment, and guarantee this process is free of corruption and abuse.”
The letter — signed by Free Press Action, Art House Convergence, the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets Institute, the Committee for the First Amendment, the Communications Workers of America, the Future Film Coalition, the International Documentary Association, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Citizen, Public Knowledge and Writers Guild of America West — was delivered prior to Tuesday’s subcommittee hearing to “examine the competitive impact” of the proposed mergers.
“In addition to the consequences of media market concentration, we are concerned about harms to our democracy, too,” reads the letter. “The current administration has exploited merger review processes for personal gain and abused its power to extract special favors from merging parties, up to and including control over the content they air.”
“We’re calling on Congress to exercise its oversight authority because of the flagrant government censorship and corruption administration officials have exhibited in other merger and regulatory processes,” said Free Press Action Co-CEO Jessica J. González. “For instance, President Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has repeatedly violated his oath to uphold the Constitution to bully and investigate media companies that report critically on the administration. This is chilling. Any scrutiny of this proposed merger that federal agencies conduct must not undermine First Amendment freedoms.”