Cite as: 512 U. S. 622 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
The potential for abuse of this private power over a central avenue of communication cannot be overlooked. See Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U. S. 546, 557 (1975) ("Each medium of expression . . . must be assessed for First Amendment purposes by standards suited to it, for each may present its own problems"). The First Amendment's command that government not impede the freedom of speech does not disable the government from taking steps to ensure that private interests not restrict, through physical control of a critical pathway of communication, the free flow of information and ideas. See Associated Press v. United States, 326 U. S., at 20. We thus reject appellants' contention that Tornillo and Pacific Gas & Electric require strict scrutiny of the access rules in question here.
2
Second, appellants urge us to apply strict scrutiny because the must-carry provisions favor one set of speakers (broadcast programmers) over another (cable programmers). Appellants maintain that as a consequence of this speaker preference, some cable programmers who would have secured carriage in the absence of must-carry may now be dropped. Relying on language in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1 (1976), appellants contend that such a regulation is presumed invalid under the First Amendment because the government may not "restrict the speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the relative voice of others." Id., at 48-49.
To the extent appellants' argument rests on the view that all regulations distinguishing between speakers warrant strict scrutiny, see Brief for Appellants Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., et al. 29, it is mistaken. At issue in Buckley was a federal law prohibiting individuals from spending more than $1,000 per year to support or oppose a particular political candidate. The Government justified the law as a means
restrict the circumstances under which it allows others also to use its
system." I. de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom 168 (1983).
657
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