FCC warning that networks risk licenses over Iran reporting a ‘shocking’ abuse of power

The following statement can be attributed to FIRE Legal Director Will Creeley:

Brendan Carr’s authoritarian warning — that networks risk their broadcasting licenses for Iran war reporting that the government doesn’t like — is outrageous. When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong.

In 2019, Carr said: “Should the government censor speech it doesn’t like? Of course not. The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.’” But today, Carr cites the “public interest” to blatantly threaten news outlets because the president doesn’t like their reporting.

Again and again, Carr’s tenure as FCC chairman has been marked by his shameless willingness to bully and threaten our free press. But even by Carr’s standards, today’s hypocrisy is shocking — and dangerous.

The American people demand uncensored news about the men and women serving in our armed forces. Our right to a free press is one of the core American freedoms those in uniform have sworn to support and defend. It is long past time for our government officials to remember their own oaths to uphold the Constitution — starting with the First Amendment.