The Federal Communications Commission is considering punishing broadcasters for using the Washington Redskins’ nickname on air, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said during a conference call with reporters, according to Reuters.
The petition was submitted to the FCC from legal activist John Banzhaf III and asks that regulators strip a Washington radio station’s broadcast license when it comes up for renewal due to repeated use of the name “Redskins.”
“We’ll be looking at that petition, we will be dealing with that issue on the merits and we’ll be responding accordingly,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told reporters.
Banzhaf says the word is racist, derogatory, profane and hateful, making its use “akin to broadcasting obscenity.”
In June, the franchise had its trademark revoked on the grounds that it was “disparaging to Native Americans.”
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