Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr never intended to threaten broadcast licenses over coverage of the war in Iran, he told reporters after an event hosted by FGS. Semaphore.
“My comments were not really on the Iran war,” Carr said in response to a question. The Verge Regarding his statements regarding coverage of the war. “I understand why people say that. I made a statement quoting a tweet.”
On March 14, Carr tweeted a quote from President Donald Trump, quoting a screenshot of a Truth Social post that lamented “intentionally misleading headlines” related to U.S. military action in the Middle East. Carr tweeted in response, “Broadcasters who are perpetrating fraud and distortion of news – also known as fake news – now have the chance to get on the right track before their license renewals.” “The law is clear. Broadcasters must act in the public interest, and if they don’t they will lose their license.” His comments were widely reported as a threat over negative war news coverage.
Carr had previously warned broadcasters that they could lose station licenses if they aired late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, and Disney took him off the air briefly after the comments, which Carr has since defended and denied that they were ever a threat. Speaking on Thursday, Carr said he had no plans to withdraw his broadcasting license. “You never know, but I don’t have any plans,” he said. “Maybe we will, maybe we won’t, as the big man would say.”
“You never know, but I don’t have a plan”
“The only thing we have said about withdrawal of broadcasting licenses is for those operators who are not working in the public interest, who are doing broadcast fraud, news distortion,” he said. “As long as you’re not doing it, you can cover anything in any way.”
Carr is pleased to see platforms like X and Meta change their policies in ways he considers more fair. “Such a correction in the market has resulted in a number of calls for regulatory intervention,” he said during an on-stage interview. of semaphore Rohan Goswami. Speaking to reporters afterward, Carr said he had “stopped talking about free speech” on tech platforms while he was chairman of the agency, claiming “people get confused” by what he sees as the “apples and oranges” of the policies of Internet platforms and broadcasters, whose licenses are regulated by the FCC. The agency recently approved the merger of Nextstar and Tegna, which would give the company access to 80 percent of American TV households, beyond the 39 percent ownership limit.
The need for regulation of technology platforms has decreased as what Carr considered “bad conduct” has decreased. Asked if this is a content-based regulation, if its requirements change depending on which platforms choose to moderate, Carr said it is still about conduct. “It’s when you have market power, or when you abuse that market power in a way that impairs individual freedom, that I think that potentially creates grounds for regulation.”
Asked on stage whether he had weaponized the tools at his disposal as he has accused Democrats of doing, Carr said he had chosen a simpler approach. “Why don’t we enforce the law in a neutral, equitable manner? I think that’s what we’re doing here.”
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