Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has drawn fierce backlash from Democratic lawmakers and free speech advocates for threatening to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over their coverage of the war in Iran.
Carr on Saturday blasted broadcasters shortly after President Donald Trump called reports that Iran struck five U.S. tanker planes “fake news.”
In a post on X, Carr warned that broadcasters will lose their licenses if they don’t “operate in the public interest.” “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,” Carr wrote in the post, which attached Trump’s statement on Truth Social earlier Saturday.
Democrats said Carr’s comments amounted to an authoritarian assault on free speech.
“Constitutional law 101: it’s illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn’t like about Trump’s Iran war,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote Saturday on X. “This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook.”
“We aren’t on the verge of a totalitarian takeover,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote in a post on X. “WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.”
The FCC didn’t immediately return a request for comment from CNBC.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that five refueling tankers were struck during an Iranian missile strike on the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.
In a Truth Social post, Trump called that an “intentionally misleading headline,” citing the Journal, The New York Times and what he called other “Lowlife” papers.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wrote on X that it would be “flagrantly unconstitutional” for the FCC to pull a broadcast license because it disagreed with coverage of the Iran war.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., agreed, writing that such a move would be “flagrantly anti First Amendment” and “fascist.”
Even Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., voiced his displeasure with Carr’s remarks.
“I’m a big supporter of the First Amendment, I do not like the heavy hand of government no matter who’s wielding it,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.” “So no, I’d rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group, called the FCC chairman’s warning to broadcasters over Iran coverage “outrageous.”
“When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,” it wrote on X.
However Carr, responding to Warren’s statements on X, cited a Supreme Court case to suggest the FCC would be well within its First Amendment right to revoke a broadcaster’s license if it was deemed not to be in the public interest.
“No one has a First Amendment right to a license or to monopolize a radio frequency; to deny a station license because ‘the public interest’ requires it ‘is not a denial of free speech,'” Carr wrote.
That quote is a direct citation from a 1969 Supreme Court decision in Red Lion Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, which in turn had referenced another Supreme Court case, National Broadcasting Co. v. United States in 1943.
Sen. Warren’s press office didn’t return a request for comment on Carr’s rebuttal.
Carr’s threats over Iran war coverage are far from the first time the Trump administration has gone after media companies for comments the president didn’t like.
ABC parent Disney brought back “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after pausing the show indefinitely in September after Carr suggested that local stations risked their licenses over comments by host Kimmel that linked the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
Nexstar Media Group, one of the largest owners of broadcast television stations, and conservative broadcast network Sinclair both temporarily pulled the show from their programming.
More recently, ABC’s “The View” came under pressure after Carr said the show was under investigation for not providing equal time to opposing candidates after it hosted Democratic Senate James Talarico of Texas.
CBS star Stephen Colbert was also told by his network that he couldn’t air an interview with Talarico out of concern the Trump administration would consider it a violation. Colbert instead did the interview and posted it on YouTube, where FCC rules don’t apply.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Pentagon briefing that he was looking forward to cable giant CNN being controlled by Paramount Skydance‘s billionaire owner David Ellison, hinting that the news network’s reporting may change now that the company has agreed to acquire CNN parent Warner Bros Discovery.
“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” he said.
While Trump and Carr continue to threaten media companies with losing their broadcast licenses due to what they call unfair coverage, these licenses only apply to local TV broadcasters. Cable networks like CNN, streaming services and print publications are not affected.