Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr stirred up a controversy this weekend by threatening broadcasters with the loss of their licenses over their coverage of the current war in Iran.
What did Brendan Carr say?
In an X post and adjacent to a screenshot of President Trump complaining about news coverage of the war, Carr said, “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up.” Carr continued: “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Does the FCC have the right to revoke broadcast licenses?
The FCC does have limited power to do that, but has not done so in the last half-century. It cannot revoke a license because it disapproves of the content of a broadcast.
What are the First Amendment implications of all of this?
Trying to revoke a broadcast station’s license because it’s not positive enough about a war would be a clear violation of the First Amendment. The very reason we have a free press is that the first generation of Americans insisted on a watchdog on government, helping keep the powerful in check with scrutiny and information. This is not a close call and Carr knows this. He cannot act on his threats. He also has a clear free-speech right of his own to say provocative things to attract attention and score political points.
Can the FCC take action against cable networks?
No, and that’s the truly silly part of Carr’s post. The FCC’s authority applies only to broadcast stations, a quickly shrinking subset of the news universe. CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) and all other cable networks are beyond his power. He’s like a safety-patrol boy trying to pull over cars; they’re out of his reach. Even CBS, which like other broadcast networks has some owned and operated stations, is immune from the FCC as a network. Any action taken would have to be against individual stations for individual and documented reasons and would take years to resolve.
What’s next?
In all likelihood, Carr and others will continue to bash the news media’s coverage of the war in Iran, using the same playbook mastered 55 years ago by President Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, his vice president. It’s been a very effective political strategy. Carr will probably not pursue license revocations, unless it’s just for show. The right of a free press to report on government’s military actions and the use of taxpayers’ dollars is paramount, and no number of inflammatory social media posts will change that.
See also: Federal Communications Commission
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Ken Paulson is the director of the Free Speech Center.
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