FCC’s Brendan Carr Threatens To Pull Licenses From Media Companies If They’re Out Of Line

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said in an interview published on Monday that he is willing to pull broadcast licenses from any media company that does not align with the public’s interest.

Carr accused Comcast in April of “misleading the American public” with its coverage of the deportation of alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia and said the FCC would investigate whether Comcast’s programming decisions “best reflect the needs and interests of their communities.” He warned in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he is willing to revoke the license of any media company if necessary.

“Broadcast licenses are not sacred cows,” Carr told The WSJ.

The FCC has only revoked the broadcast license of a media company once in 1971 after a station in Jackson, Mississippi, defended segregation, according to The WSJ.

The FCC launched a probe against Comcast in February over its policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 to abolish “radical and wasteful” DEI programs in the government.