Actionable indecency

Actionable indecency is a legal doctrine held by the Federal Communications Commission since the 1978 FCC vs. Pacifica case, that broadcast speech can be regulated even if it does not contain the seven dirty words deemed "indecent".

The FCC states on its website that indecent broadcasts are not actionable between 10 PM and 6 AM; however, in 1987, it announced that "actionable indecency" had been committed in broadcasts after 10 PM.

Legal scholars have questioned the constitutionality of the doctrine, and indicated that it has been used to silence minorities such as gay men in the past. One legal analysis of the doctrine found that it may no longer be necessary for the FCC itself to exist in order to protect children in the age of new media.

• Cause of action
• Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s

• Industry Guidance On the Commission's Case Law Interpreting 18 U.S.C. § 1464 and Enforcement Policies Regarding Broadcast Indecency (Policy statement), Federal Communications Commission, April 6, 2001, EB-00-IH-0089
• "Obscene Indecent and Profane Broadcasts", Consumer Help Center (Official website), Federal Communications Commission, retrieved 2015-10-02
• Lipschultz, J. (2008), Broadcast and Internet Indecency: Defining Free Speech, Routledge Communication Series, Taylor & Francis, p. 195, ISBN 978-1-135-59628-6
• Goodale, J.C.; Frieden, R. (2014), All about Cable and Broadband, Communications law series, Law Journal Press, ISBN 978-1-58852-012-8
• Levy, Lili (April 2008), The FCC's Regulation of Indecency (PDF), First Amendment Center, archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-23, retrieved 2015-10-02
• Yokabitus, Paul (July 20, 2012), "Actionably Indecent: Is the FCC Still Needed in Modern America?", Campbell Law Observer, Campbell University