President-elect Trump nominates Brendan Carr, a proponent of Big Tech regulation, as FCC chairman, vowing to 'crack down on censorship by Big Tech companies such as Google and Meta'


By Gage Skidmore

President-elect Donald Trump announced in a statement that he has selected Republican Brendan Carr as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr has been a vocal proponent of strengthening regulations on big tech companies such as Google and Meta, and the Trump administration has indicated it will take a stance to curb the technology industry.

Donald J. Trump Post | Truth Social
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113501214659806466



Trump FCC Chair Pick Is Brendan Carr, Pro-Musk Republican - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-18/trump-designates-fcc-veteran-brendan-carr-as-chair-of-agency



Trump taps Musk-allied big tech critic Brendan Carr to head FCC - CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-fcc-brendan-carr/

Trump's FCC pick has said he wants to ban TikTok, challenge Section 230 | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/18/trumps-fcc-pick-has-said-he-wants-to-ban-tiktok-challenge-section-230/

Carr joined the FCC in 2012 and served as general counsel and advisor to former Republican Chairman Ajit Pai, and President-elect Trump appointed him to the FCC in 2017 during his first term in office.

Carr is writing Chapter 28 of Project 2025 , a policy proposal for the incoming Trump administration. In it, Carr said that more attention should be paid to the evaluation of products from Chinese manufacturers, including Huawei, and that he would like to invest $3 billion (about 450 billion yen) in a program that provides compensation to telecommunications operators who replace telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE.

Carr Congratulates President Trump on Historic Election
(PDF file) https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_CHAPTER-28.pdf



Carr specifically stated, 'TikTok poses serious and unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States. By determining what news and information TikTok provides to millions of Americans, it gives the Chinese government an opportunity to carry out a campaign of influence on the United States.' He has indicated that TikTok should be strictly regulated.

Carr also recommended limiting the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act , which provides immunity for content providers, in order to crack down on 'conduct deemed to be abusive content moderation' by Big Tech. Carr pointed out that 'Big Tech currently operates like a black box, with problems such as small businesses seeing sudden drops in web traffic when Google manipulates search results, and Facebook and YouTube inconsistently deleting posts and suspending accounts.'

In addition, Carr released a message congratulating President Trump's victory on November 7, 2024, in which he said, 'The American people have sent a clear and decisive message to Washington: it is time for a change of policy. As such, I agree with congressional leaders that the FCC should immediately cease work on any partisan or contentious matters and focus on the transition. Once the transition is complete, the FCC will play a critical role in regulating Big Tech, ensuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest, and promoting economic growth while advancing national security interests and supporting law enforcement.'

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION |Brendan Carr
(PDF file) https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-407296A1.pdf



Furthermore, on November 15, 2024, Carr commented on X (formerly Twitter) that 'Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others have played central roles in the censorship cartel. In Orwellian terms, NewsGuard, along with fact-checking groups and advertising agencies, have helped enforce biased reporting. The censorship cartel must be dismantled,' and published a letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.



Carr is said to be an ally of Elon Musk, the businessman who was appointed head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the incoming Trump administration. With Carr taking over as FCC chairman, it is highly likely that Musk's Starlink satellite network business will expand further while Big Tech struggles with stricter regulations.

Musk's satellite internet service, Starlink, was awarded $885 million in federal subsidies in late 2020, but the FCC then claimed that Starlink's equipment had not been proven to be distributed sufficiently to rural households. When the subsidy was rescinded, Carr said, 'This is nothing more than a regulatory war against Musk, one of the left's biggest targets.' He was vocal in his opposition.

'Chairman Carr is a free speech fighter who has fought regulatory laws that have stifled Americans' freedoms and stifled our economy. He will end the regulatory onslaught that has plagued America's job creators and innovators, and ensure the FCC delivers results for rural America,' President-elect Trump said in a statement.


By Gage Skidmore

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