In a letter sent today, the New York Civil Liberties Union cautioned the Federal Communications Commission against punishing New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch because of the content of his newspaper.

The Post last week ran an offensive editorial cartoon showing two police officers standing over the body of a shot chimpanzee. The caption reads, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” In response, many rallies have taken place denouncing the cartoon and its publisher, and the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network and Benjamin Jealous of the NAACP announced they would ask the FCC to reconsider a policy that allows Murdoch to own multiple media outlets in the same city.

The following can be attributed to NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman:

“In a free society, the response to offensive speech is criticism and information, not censorship. The cartoon in this case was patently offensive, and we support the right to protest it. But the First Amendment also prohibits the government from imposing sanctions on individuals or organizations because their ideas are offensive. If the FCC were to punish or even investigate Murdoch because of the content of a cartoon, it would be in direct violation of the First Amendment.”