LOS ANGELES – FOX says it covered up the naked rear end of a cartoon character recently because of nervousness over what the Federal Communications Commission will find objectionable.

The latest example of TV network self-censorship because of FCC concerns came a few weeks ago during a rerun of the “Family Guy” cartoon.

FOX blurred out a character’s naked butt, even though the image was seen five years ago when the episode originally aired.

“We have to be checking and second-guessing ourselves now, and that’s really difficult,” FOX entertainment president Gail Berman said Monday. “We have to protect our affiliates.”

FOX didn’t act on a complaint. But the move happened in the wake of the FCC’s October vote to fine 169 FOX stations $7,000 each for airing an episode of “Married By America” (search) that showed people licking whipped cream from strippers’ bodies and a man in his underwear being spanked by strippers.

“It’s certainly confusing when you have to do something like that,” Berman said. “I wouldn’t say it was borderline hysteria. It’s just that we were trying to find our way and do what’s responsible.”

PBS executives also said this weekend they will edit out a glimpse of a naked woman in a fictional account of a terrorist “dirty bomb” attack that will be aired next month after being shown first on HBO.