News from Above: First Amendment Implications of the Federal Aviation Administration Ban on Commercial Drones

Abstract

Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), commonly referred to as drones, have rocketed to public attention in the last decade, largely as a result of the U.S. military's use of this technology in the War on Terror. As UASs have come home and have been put to a growing number of uses in domestic airspace, the Federal Aviation Administration has attempted to ban their commercial use. Efforts to enforce this ban have included sending dozens of cease-and-desist letters to UAS operators and even one attempt to levy a $10,000 fine. Most often, these UAS operators have been engaging in aerial photography, sometimes for news-gathering purposes. To date, little attention has been paid to the First Amendment implications of the ban. This article argues that aerial photography with UASs, whether commercial or not, is protected First Amendment activity, particularly for news-gathering purposes. The FAA must take First Amendment?protected uses of this technology into account as it proceeds with meeting its congressional mandate to promulgate rules for domestic UASs.