In the ongoing battle to defend freedom of speech and expression, new issues are constantly arising.

As censorship in the music industry remains a hot topic, few people realize that some radio stations are actually broadcasting songs that contain lyrics considered to be “indecent” — and they are doing it legally.

Student-run radio stations at Michigan State University, Northwestern University and the University of Iowa all permit their DJs to play “indecent material” between certain hours of the evening, “Safe Harbor hours” between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. deemed legal by the Federal Communications Commission.

“I tell our DJs that if they find value in music that they play, beyond shock value, than I’ll stand by them,” said Pete Collman, Station Manager at Michigan State University’s WDBM.

Emily Villhauer, Program Director for KRUI at the University of Iowa, also believes in broadcasting “indecent material” during Safe Harbor hours.

“There’s always the possibility that someone’s gonna be offended, but it’s like that with any song,” she said. “During the hours of 10 and 6, the number of listeners decrease as well.”

According to the FCC’s official Web site, “indecent material” is defined as “language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by the contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities.

“Indecent material is protected by the First Amendment and cannot be banned entirely. It may, however, be restricted in order to avoid its broadcast during times of day when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience,” the Web site states.

Darren Pakravan, a late night DJ at Northwestern, said WNUR only broadcasts songs considered indecent during midnight to 6 a.m. and warns listeners through a disclaimer.

The disclaimer states that the programming may be “inappropriate for younger or more sensitive listeners” but is considered “culturally and artistically significant.”

While KRUI does not have a disclaimer, the station still broadcasts “indecent” songs and has had no problems as of yet.

“We trust our DJs on overnight to not go overboard,” Villhauer explained. “If [DJs] do play a song that is too offensive, they can always turn it off and choose a new song.”

Villhauer added that some people believe non-commercial stations get more lenience from the FCC, and that is why college stations play songs with borderline offensive lyrics more frequently than commercial stations.

The truth is, Villhauer said, that although commercial stations can legally play “indecent” songs, they avoid doing so because they don’t want to lose advertising.

KALX at University of California at Berkeley makes it a policy not to risk playing “indecent” songs.

Although Operations Manager Monica Herms does support freedom of speech, she said her station does not play songs of this type because they do not want to risk having to pay a large fine.

“For us, [a fine from the FCC] is a huge chunk of our budget and we don’t want to go off of the air,” she said. Herms also gave the reason that the FCC is “vague” about its policies.

KALX also has its DJs sign a document promising they will not go against the rules by playing songs with profanity. “If our material has obscenities, we mark it so our DJs know,” Herms added.

Herms stressed that Safe Harbor hours apply to television as well, and that is why the controversial animated program South Park is shown at 10 p.m.

“The FCC has fined a number of stations for broadcasting indecent material and is actively investigating additional cases,” the FCC Web site said.