President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission said Monday he wants to “smash the censorship cartel” to rebuild trust in media sources and ensure broadcasters serve the public interest.
Brendan Carr, a senior Republican commissioner at the FCC, called it his No. 1 priority, reflecting concerns within the GOP that social media and mainstream outlets too often align with liberal interests and suppress conservative ones.
“Americans have lived under an unprecedented surge in censorship over the last couple of years, and we have to work together to smash the censorship cartel,” Mr. Carr told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”
In that vein, Mr. Carr recently called on four Big Tech giants in a letter to detail their use of NewsGuard, which works to sideline some non-legacy media by labeling their news reports “misinformation.”
He is threatening the platforms with revocation of their federally granted immunity against content-based lawsuits.
NewsGuard is an American company that gives clients what it calls “reliability ratings and scores” for news and information websites. Scores range from zero to 100 based on nine “apolitical journalistic criteria” that analyze credibility and transparency.
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In a lengthy statement, NewsGuard CEO Gordon Crovitz said Mr. Carr’s letter “makes clear he was misled by relying on false reports” from outlets “that earn low credibility scores from NewsGuard.”
Much of the concern around censorship was fueled by Democratic efforts to get social media platforms to remove or downplay content that questioned aspects of the COVID-19 response or whether the coronavirus was leaked from a lab in China.
Also Monday, Mr. Carr pledged to scrutinize any telecommunications network with ties to communist China, citing national security concerns.
He said he plans to take a “very hard look” at a deal that gives 200 radio stations to a group backed by George Soros, a liberal mega-donor, while signaling more even-handed treatment for billionaire Elon Musk, the entrepreneur who heavily backed Mr. Trump and is advising him on the transition.
“For too long in this government, particularly over the last couple of years, your last name dictated how the government treated you,” Mr. Carr said. “If your last name was Soros, well, the commission bent over backwards and gave you a special, unprecedented commission-level shortcut to buy 200 radio stations. If your last name was Musk, well then you lost $800 million contracts that you lawfully got. Everybody now is going to get a fair shake going forward.”
The FCC is an independent agency subject to oversight from Congress. It has a five-member commission with a 3-2 Democratic majority, though that will change next year when Mr. Trump gets to appoint a new member.
Some Trump critics fear the president-elect will attempt to increase his sway over media outlets that are unfriendly to him.
“I want to make sure that I understand 100% President Trump’s agenda,” Mr. Carr said Monday. “After all, when it comes to his administration, the American people voted for him and voted for his agenda.”
• Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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