Sec.  73.1217   Broadcast hoaxes.

   No licensee or permittee of any broadcast station shall broadcast false
   information concerning a crime or a catastrophe if:

   (a) The licensee knows this information is false;

   (b) It is forseeable that broadcast of the information will cause
   substantial public harm, and

   (c) Broadcast of the information does in fact directly cause substantial
   public harm.

   Any programming accompanied by a disclaimer will be presumed not to pose
   foreseeable harm if the disclaimer clearly characterizes the program as a
   fiction and is presented in a way that is reasonable under the
   circumstances.

   Note: For purposes of this rule, “public harm” must begin immediately, and
   cause direct and actual damage to property or to the health or safety of the
   general public, or diversion of law enforcement or other public health and
   safety authorities from their duties. The public harm will be deemed
   foreseeable if the licensee could expect with a significant degree of
   certainty that public harm would occur. A “crime” is any act or omission
   that makes the offender subject to criminal punishment by law. A
   “catastrophe” is a disaster or imminent disaster involving violent or sudden
   event affecting the public.

   [ 57 FR 28640 , June 26, 1992]