President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, wants the FCC to crack down on news outlets he believes are unfair to Trump or Republicans in general.
Carr's stated goals appear to mark a major shift in the FCC's approach to broadcasters. Carr's predecessors, including outgoing Speaker Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Ajit Pai, who served in the first Trump administration, both rejected Trump's calls to punish news networks for alleged bias.
Carr has instead embraced Trump's view that broadcasters should be punished for alleged anti-conservative bias. Carr has threatened to revoke licenses using the FCC's authority to ensure that broadcast stations using public airwaves operate in the public interest, despite the fact that previous presidents have said the First Amendment prevents the FCC from revoke content-based licenses.
Revoking licenses or blocking license renewals is legally difficult, experts told Ars. But Carr could use his power as chairman of the FCC to pressure broadcasters and force them to undergo costly legal proceedings, even if he never manages to wrest a license from a broadcast station.
“Look, the law is very clear,” Carr told CNBC on December 6. “The Communications Act says that you must act in the public interest. And if you don't, then yes, one of the consequences may be the loss of your license. And that is of course on the table. I mean, look, broadcast licenses are not sacred cows.”
Carr is fighting Trump's fight
Carr has said his FCC will review a complaint about CBS 60 minutes interview with Kamala Harris before the election. Trump criticized the interview's editing, saying that “CBS should lose its license.”
In an interview with Fox News, Carr said there is “still a news distortion complaint with the FCC, which has to do with CBS, and that CBS has a transaction pending with the FCC.” He was referring to a pending deal between Skydance and Paramount, which owns and operates 28 local television stations of the CBS Television Network.
