On Wednesday, the public comment period closed on one of the most extraordinary media proceedings in the history of the Federal Communications Commission. More than 153,000 filings came in from public safety officials, free speech advocates, veterans, food banks, think tanks, and tens of thousands of individual viewers. Nearly all urged the FCC to leave eight local ABC stations alone. Their overwhelming message is simple: The FCC should not become the nation’s speech police.

In April, President Donald Trump called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel. The very next day, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ordered an early review of the broadcast licenses of eight of ABC’s stations. These stations, based in New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; San Francisco; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and Fresno, California, are the only ones that Disney directly owns. Their licenses were not due for renewal until 2028 at the earliest. It’s a very rare move for the FCC to demand an early renewal.