FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is threatening broadcasters over perceived biased coverage of the war in Iran, but such warnings violate the First Amendment and misdirect attention from more serious threats to U.S. information security, according to a Wall Street Journal editorial.
Brendan Carr said broadcasters could lose their licenses if they fail to operate in the “public interest,” echoing criticism from Donald Trump about “fake news” coverage. While public trust in traditional media has declined, the editorial argues the government cannot use licensing authority to control speech, regardless of political concerns.
The criticism is also misplaced, the editorial says, because most Americans no longer rely on broadcast television for news. Instead, social media platforms have become the dominant source of information—and a key channel for misinformation and foreign propaganda.
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| Brendan Carr |
That dynamic underscores what the editorial describes as a more pressing national security concern: TikTok. In 2024, Congress passed bipartisan legislation requiring its parent company, ByteDance, to divest or face a U.S. ban due to concerns about data surveillance and algorithmic influence by the Chinese government.
However, after taking office, Donald Trump allowed the platform to continue operating under a revised deal involving investors such as Oracle and Silver Lake. Under the arrangement, ByteDance retains a significant stake and control of TikTok’s algorithm, raising concerns that the law’s intent has been undermined.
The editorial concludes that while traditional media has lost credibility, government attempts to regulate broadcast speech are unconstitutional, and the greater risk lies in the unchecked influence of social media platforms that may amplify foreign propaganda.