As soon as Donald Trump was elected, all the big bosses of American tech rushed to send him “nice” messages of congratulations, as if they wanted to avoid any confrontation with the future president of the United States. But they could quickly become disillusioned since, on Sunday, Donald Trump appointed Brendan Carr to head the American telecoms regulator, the FCC. The latter is currently one of the commissioners of this organization and is supported by Elon Musk.
Described as a “free speech warrior” by the president-elect, Brendan Carr has distinguished himself by his harsh criticism of technology giants, such as Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft, which he accuses of constituting a “ censorship cartel.”
“Dismantle the censorship cartel”
Brendan Carr quickly responded to X, saying “we must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore Americans' right to free speech.” On Friday, he had already denounced these companies as well as entities like NewsGuard, “fact checking” groups and certain advertising agencies, accused of “imposing one-sided narratives”. According to him, these actors act as Orwellian tools to restrict freedom of expression.
His appointment could also have significant consequences in the media sector. On several occasions, Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw their broadcasting licenses from CBS and ABC, which he accused of favoring Kamala Harris. Although such complex procedures require the green light from the FCC, Donald Trump seems determined to use all available regulatory means to counter the media he considers hostile.
Architect of “Project 2025”
Brendan Carr is also a strong advocate of high-speed internet access in rural areas, an issue that allowed him to ally himself with Elon Musk. In 2022, the FCC revoked an $885 million subsidy granted to Starlink, a satellite Internet service provider owned by the boss of Tesla. Brendan Carr criticized the decision, calling it a “regulatory retaliatory measure against Elon Musk.”
Donald Trump praised the commitment, saying that Brendan Carr “will ensure the FCC meets the expectations of rural America” while ending the “regulatory assault that has crippled job creators and innovators Americans.” Finally, Brendan Carr is the author of the telecoms chapter of “Project 2025”. In this document, he proposes a profound transformation of the FCC around four priorities: “regain control of Big Tech”, “promote national security”, “unleash economic prosperity” and “guarantee accountability and good governance of the FCC.”
