An increase in maximum fines for broadcast indecency seems to be getting the attention of network television executives.
Since Congress raised the maximum fine from $32,500 to $325,000 last year, Pat Trueman with the Alliance Defense Fund said he has noticed more care being taken by networks.
"What you've got is appropriate screening of the material they put out to the public, and that's appropriate," he said. "That's what indecency law was supposed to accomplish."
But some broadcast executives are complaining, saying the higher fines chill freedom of speech. Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, called them "unfair." He said his network turned away millions of dollars in Super Bowl ads that were deemed unfit for broadcast.
But Trueman pointed out that not all speech is protected.
"It will chill some material," he said, "but not every speech, not every word, not every comment is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
