ABC Files Petition Against FCC Over 'The View' Equal Airtime Investigation

ABC is actually standing up to the FCC for once ... going after the government agency for targeting "The View."

On Thursday, the network filed a petition against the FCC, claiming they are raising serious First Amendment issues with their probe of the daytime talk show.

Back in February, the agency started investigating "The View" in an attempt to force them to give equal air time to politicians across the political spectrum.

The network insists "The View" has been operating under a "bona fide news exemption" for more than 20 years and is therefore not subject to the equal airtime rule.

The FCC is apparently trying to get them to prove that they're legit news ... because if they can't, they'll have to start implementing equal airtime policies.

A source told Fox News in February that the FCC set their sights on "The View" after they had Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on the show.

Also in February, Stephen Colbert said CBS refused to air his own interview with Talarico ... so he had to post it exclusively online.

Fast forward back to now ... ABC is slamming the FCC, saying no one's ever questioned whether or not "The View" is considered a news program before.

They say the FCC has "no basis" for trying to switch up the classification now -- claiming "The View" has been considered news since 2002 and there's never been a problem.

ABC seems to be singing a completely different tune than when the FCC went after Jimmy Kimmel ... prompting the network to briefly pull him off the air when pressured by Chairman Brendan Carr.