Civil Rights Groups Support FCC EEO Data Collection in Amicus Filing
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should reject broadcaster arguments that collection and disclosure of demographic data violates the U.S. Constitution, said the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and a host of other civil rights groups in an…
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amicus brief filed Monday supporting the FCC’s equal employment opportunity data collection order. “Petitioners seek to shield the collected information from public scrutiny despite the importance of accurate demographic data to the federal government, investors, the general public, and the industry’s various stakeholders,” said the joint amicus filing, in which the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Office of Communications for the National Church of Christ, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other groups joined the NAACP. “By promoting, rather than restricting, the flow of information, Form 395-B promotes the First Amendment goal of the discovery of truth and contributes to the efficiency of the ‘marketplace of ideas.’” Disclosing a broadcaster’s workforce diversity data is comparable to other legal disclosures such as cigarette warning labels and stock buyback rationales, the filing added. “Data about workforce composition is uncontroversial and factual." The National Religious Broadcasters, Texas Association of Broadcasters and American Family Association filed a petition for review against the EEO order.