FCC chair threatens broadcasters over Iran war coverage

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over coverage of the Iran war, after President Trump accused news outlets of “intentionally misleading” the American public.

Trump criticized print media outlets, including the Wall Street ​Journal, for reporting Friday that Iranian strikes damaged five U.S. Air Force refueling planes in Saudi Arabia. The president said four of the five tanker planes suffered “virtually no damage ⁠and are already back in service.”

“The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), ‌and other Lowlife “Papers” and Media actually want us ​to lose the War,” Trump said in a social media post, calling the journalists “sick and demented people.”

Carr in a follow-up post warned the FCC would consider Iran war coverage when renewing broadcasters licenses.

“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 wrote in a social ⁠media post. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do ‌not.”

Aaron Terr, director of public ‌policy at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech nonprofit, condemned Carr’s comment, arguing it equated to government censorship ⁠and infringed on the First Amendment.

“The president’s hand-picked misinformation ​czar is at it ⁠again, singling ​out “fake news” that conflicts with his boss’s political agenda,” Terr wrote in a post. “The First Amendment doesn’t allow the government to censor information about the war it’s waging.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, ⁠D-California, blasted Carr’s post as “flagrantly unconstitutional.”

“If Trump doesn’t like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license,” Newsom, a fierce opponent ⁠of Trump, said March 14.

This isn’t the first time Carr has been accused of censorship. Free speech activists and opponents of Trump slammed the FCC chair in September for appearing to ⁠threaten ABC to take action ‌against late night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he ​made about ‌Charlie Kirk.

Carr recently urged broadcast companies to air “patriotic, pro-America content” as ​part of programming aligned with the country’s 250th anniversary.