Some of America’s biggest news agencies are suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for invading their First Amendment rights by preventing them from utilizing drones for reporting within the U.S.
A dozen news agencies which include the New York Times, Tribune, and the Associated Press, filed a united amicus belief in a legal battle that is challenging the FAA’s authority to drone regulation.
In the brief filing, media agencies disapproved FAA’s general policy of completely banning commercial drones in the United States, saying it’s violating the First Amendment right of gathering reports. The issues is already causing a negative effect on reporting rights from some reporters.
Holland & Knight LLP filed on behalf of media outlets to disapprove FAA’s appeal of a latest ruling that flipped the agency’s initial fine against a drone operator. Regarding the rule, a judge of the National Transportation Safety Board found the drones to be a “model aircraft” and not subjected to FAA’s rule on manned aircraft operations.
The FAA declined the explanation indicating it can go after penalties on any model aircraft that jeopardizes air safety. It appealed the ruling to a complete NTSB.
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