FCC Secretary threatens to pull broadcaster licenses over Iran war coverage
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Secretary Brendan Carr is demanding that every broadcaster fall in line with the Trump administration stance regarding the Iran war. Doing otherwise may risk their license to operate as media companies.
Carr wrote on X, “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.”
He continues, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Evidently, President Donald Trump himself uses the term ‘fake news’ against mainstream media and reporting that contradicts his claims.
Carr adds, “When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen.” He notes that it’s “time for change!” which essentially translates as a clear threat to broadcasters to either fall in line with the Trump administration’s stance or have their broadcasting licenses revoked.
The FCC secretary clearly refers to the war coverage regarding Iran. Carr reposted Trump’s words from Truth Social, with the president accusing the media of misleading the public. He specifically pointed to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for allegedly misreporting the incident.
Although Trump claims that the outlets made it seem as if the refueling planes were no longer “of use,” the reporting of The Wall Street Journal specified that the planes were “damaged but not fully destroyed.” On the other hand, The New York Times focused on the dead personnel from the KC-135 refueling aircraft’s crash in Iraq, citing their data from the U.S. Central Command.
An unconstitutional attack against the press
Should American media outlets stop posting about deaths and damages, then?
California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted to Carr’s statement on X, writing, “If Trump doesn’t like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license.”
The governor added that the move is “flagrantly unconstitutional.”
According to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” To threaten media outlets for delivering the facts and then framing the reports as “fake news” to justify the removal of their broadcasting licenses reeks of censorship.
A proponent of censorship
With Carr as the FCC secretary, the law may be weaponized to silence stances unaligned with the administration’s stance. This wouldn’t be Carr’s first dance with censorship. Not only has he been a loyal defender of Trump, but he also threatened Nexstar Media over one Jimmy Kimmel Live! episode.
In the episode, Kimmel made subtle jabs that touched on the death of late conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk. Kimmel criticized Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s shooting.
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” Kimmel said.
Carr demanded an apology for the remark and threatened Nexstar Media. Consequently, the media company folded and agreed to suspend Kimmel’s show altogether. Later on, Carr would applaud the company—but social media from all sides of the political spectrum disagreed with Nexstar Media’s decision to silence Kimmel, which resulted in the comedian’s return to the stage.
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