Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr never meant to threaten broadcast licenses over their coverage of the war in Iran, he told reporters after an event hosted by FGS and Semafor.
โMy comments werenโt actually on the Iran war,โ Carr said in response to a question from The Verge about his statement regarding coverage of the war. โI understand why people say that. I made a statement quoting a tweet.โ
On March 14th, Carr quote-tweeted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump, who had bemoaned โan intentionally misleading headlineโ related to the US military action in the Middle East. โBroadcasters 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,โ Carr tweeted in response. โThe law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.โ His comments were widely reported as a threat over negative war news coverage.
Carr previously warned broadcasters they could lose station licenses over airing late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, and Disney briefly pulled him from the air after the comments, which Carr has since defended and denied were ever a threat. At the event on Thursday, Carr said he had no plans to pull broadcast licenses. โYou never know, but I donโt have plans,โ he said. โMaybe we will, maybe we wonโt, as the big guy would say.โ
โYou never know, but I donโt have plansโ
โThe only thing weโve ever talked about pulling broadcast licenses are for operators that arenโt operating in the public interest, that are doing broadcast hoax, news distortion,โ he said. โAs long as youโre not doing that, you can cover anything any way you want.โ
Carr has been heartened to see platforms like X and Meta change their policies in ways he views as more fair. โThat sort of course correction in the market has resulted in a decrease in a lot of the sort of calls for regulatory intervention,โ he said during the on-stage interview with Semaforโs Rohan Goswami. While speaking with reporters after, Carr said heโs โsort of stopped talking about free speechโ on tech platforms while chair of the agency, claiming โpeople get confusedโ about what he sees as โapples and orangesโ issues of internet platformsโ policies, and broadcastersโ, whose licenses are regulated by the FCC. The agency recently approved a merger of NextStar and Tegna, which would make the company reach 80 percent of US TV households, beyond the 39 percent ownership limit.
The need for regulation of tech platforms has simmered as what Carr views as โbad conductโ has diminished. Asked if itโs a content-based regulation if the need for it changes based on what platforms choose to moderate, Carr said itโs still all about conduct. โItโs when you have market power, or when you abuse that market power in a way that stifles individual liberty, I think that potentially creates the basis for regulation.โ
Asked on stage whether heโs weaponized the tools at his disposal as heโs accused Democrats of doing, Carr said heโs chosen a simple approach. โWhy donโt we just apply the law in a neutral, even handed way? Which is what I think that weโre doing here.โ
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