The act of comedic censorship should raise concerns for everyone, not just comedians.

Comedic censorship can be defined as a situation in which comedic content, such as jokes, is restricted or banned because they are deemed offensive, inappropriate, or too sensitive for audiences.

Comedic censorship is nothing new and can be beneficial when it is used to protect the audience from getting offended at the jokes being made, and keep it age-appropriate. It is often used in many entertainment areas. For example, if you want shows that are designed for a network like Nick Jr., then you would not see adult jokes being made.

However, it can also control and limit the amount of expression a person is allowed to have, as the comments that are being made can expose hypocrisy or corruption. The most recent case of comedic censorship would be Jimmy Kimmel’s show being canceled.

On September 15, 2025, Kimmel was delivering his monologue when he made remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination being used as a political gain by “the MAGA (Make America Great Again) gang”. The head of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, who was appointed under President Donald Trump’s administration, did not like the remarks that were made by Kimmel and made comments toward ABC and Disney that they could face consequences if action were not taken. After the backlash, ABC and Disney suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to avoid further intensifying a tense moment in national political discourse.

This censorship is one of many to come that is going to challenge the right of free speech in the country, which is given to United States citizens in the First Amendment. The Amendment protects citizens from government interference in their expression. The government is not supposed to use any threats of regulation to induce a private party, like social media platforms or publishing companies, to remove speech. Furthermore, the First Amendment forbids Congress and the federal government from making laws that abridge free speech.

One may assume that the government is working on just censoring comedians, but that is totally not the case. If government officials can pressure networks for speech that they find offensive, it goes against the core protection of the First Amendment. Anyone who makes videos or posts on social media outlets is in danger of spreading their viewpoints. They could be censored just for having a different standpoint on a situation than someone of a higher power than them.

This is already showing up on TikTok. When users spread information about what is happening in Gaza or even in the United States, many viewers get a message that this source may not be reliable, and they are advised to check before spreading this video. Also, the people who usually spread news and get their videos on the For You page may get shadow-banned, limiting their audience and depriving their followers of seeing the content that they subscribed to.

By doing this, diverse perspectives are being limited, which results in promoting a single narrative. The lack of variety only exposes audiences to one side, hindering them from forming their own opinions about situations.

Our voices are already being silenced. The TikTok algorithm has not been up to par since the ban from earlier in the year. This situation is showing that the government is censoring us right before our eyes and becoming a dictatorship rather than a democracy.

Even if this were not happening to people on social media, just from the government targeting Kimmel, it is still targeting people like you and me. While Kimmel has a celebrity status, he is still a United States citizen and is protected under the First Amendment like everyone else who is a legal resident.