Are there any conditions wherein censorship (as regulated in part by the FCC) is NOT a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech?
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ANSWERS: 2
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According to legal precedents, the FCC is regulating the public airways and can establish standards of decency. They can also regulate safety issues and are governed by a very old Supreme court statement that it is not protected speech to yell, "Fire" in a crowded theater (if there is no fire). Censorship is unconstitutional when practiced by the government on private parties except in cases as cited above. There is no constitutional provision that prevents an entity such as a magazine, private forum, or online service like Answerbag from censoring the content it hosts.
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Yes. Censorship by the government is legal so long as it is neutral in its "time, place, and manner," and it is needed to promote a compelling goverment interest. Furthermore, the censorship can still be held unconstitutional if there is a lease restrictive means of obtaining the same goal. For example, if the city passes a law that says banners cannot be hung over city streets because it obstructs the passage of street cleaners. This is censorship, but would be legal so long as the law applies to everyone. However, it may still be challenged because there may be a less restrictive means of obtaining the same goal. For example, they could create a minimum height requirement, or allow the signs on all days that are not street cleaning days. Note: The above applies to all speech (even political speech which gets the greatest protection in America). Commercial speech, on the other hand, can be censored with a lot less.
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