Under FCC rules, broadcast indecency is "language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities." By "contemporary community standards," the FCC means the standard "of an average broadcast viewer or listener and not the sensibilities of any individual complainant."

Some states passed "right of reply" statutes to require newspapers that criticized candidates to give those candidates space to respond. In Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974), the U.S. Supreme Court said such statutes violated the First Amendment because the government cannot compel a newspaper to publish information. "A responsible press is an undoubtedly desirable goal," the Court said, "but press responsibility is not mandated by the Constitution and like many other virtues it cannot be legislated."