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Since being tapped to be the next FCC chairman by President-elect Trump, Commissioner Brendan Carr has been doing some fast and loose talking about freedom of speech in his media appearances.
Don’t let him fool you.
He presents himself as the champion of free speech dedicated to promoting “diversity of viewpoints” and “smashing … censorship.” But he is nothing of the sort. If you listen closely, you’ll discover what he really is: Trump’s wannabe censor in chief.
You’ll hear him threatening to recast the public interest standard into a club and using it to wrest more favorable coverage for his White House boss from the broadcast networks.
(Need I remind you: Trump has declared the broadcast networks the “enemy of the people” and “fake news” and repeatedly demanded that the FCC revoke their licenses for this or that offense against his person or policies.)
You’ll also hear how he hopes to assert FCC jurisdiction over social media so he can narrow their editorial discretion and make himself the final arbiter of what can be posted.
On CNBC, anchor David Farber asked Carr if, in earlier spots, he was signaling that the broadcast networks were in danger of losing their broadcast licenses because of their “perceived liberal bias.”
“Look, the law is very clear,” Carr said. “The law says that you have to operate in the public interest and, if you don’t, one of the consequences is potentially losing your license. Of course that is on the table. Look, broadcast licenses are not sacred cows.”
Suggesting he had no