States Didn’t Pull CNN’s License
The Claim
Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana pulled CNN’s broadcasting license because “they fail to be truthful.”
News posted on
Emerging story
On August 4, 2020, America’s Last Line of Defense published an article called, “Three States Pull CNN’s Broadcasting License, ‘They Fail to be Truthful.’”
Users on social media immediately reposted the article, saying “YES! FINALLY!!” and “it’s about damn time!!!!!!!”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that the claim is false. America’s Last Line of Defense is a satirical news site. The banner reads: “America’s Last Line of Defense. Satire for Your Confirmation Bias.” Their “About Us” reads: “Americaslastlineofdefense.com is a subsidiary of the 'America’s Last Line of Defense' network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News.”
However, this did not stop social media users from sharing the claim as if it were true, ironically fulfilling the confirmation bias mentioned in the site’s banner.
Misbar’s team also checked with the FCC’s guidelines about broadcast license pulling. According to the guidelines, the FCC will only interfere if there is a “ compelling showing” of “intentional falsification of the news.” Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana all follow the FCC guidelines for license pulling and renewal, so it seems unlikely that they would pull CNN’s license without the rest of the country doing the same.
