He wants to take on the tech giants and “dismantle the censorship cartel”: Donald Trump has appointed Brendan Carr, who is one of the commissioners and is supported by Elon Musk, to head the American telecoms regulator, the FCC. It is “a warrior of Freedom of Expression”, Donald Trump said on Sunday in the press release announcing this appointment.
Brendan Carr immediately reacted on X: “we must dismantle the censorship cartel”, imposed according to him by the tech giants Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft, “and restore Americans’ right to free speech.”
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Brendan Carr has worked at the FCC since 2012, and has been one of its commissioners since 2017, appointed to the position by Donald Trump during his first term. He had previously worked as a lawyer specializing in regulatory issues.
“Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft and others played a central role in the censorship cartel,” he had already declared on Friday, also on the X network. “The Orwellian organization called NewsGuard, along with 'fact-checking' groups and advertising agencies, have helped enforce one-sided narratives. The censorship cartel must be dismantled,” he added.
Meet “the expectations of rural regions”
Pour Donald Trump, Brendan Carr “End the regulatory assault that has crippled America's job creators and innovators, and ensure the FCC meets the expectations of rural America,” he further assured in his press release.
Internet access in rural areas is the subject which earned Brendan Carr the support of Elon Musk, appointed by Donald Trump to head a commission for “governmental efficiency”.
In 2022, in fact, the FCC revoked a subsidy of $885 million which had been granted at the end of 2020 to Starlink, a satellite internet service provider, and one of Elon Musk's companies.
This funding was supposed to bring high-speed internet to rural homes and businesses, but Starlink and the other company benefiting from these funds “failed to demonstrate that the suppliers were capable of providing the promised service”, the FCC had indicated.
Brendan Carr then spoke out against this decision. On October 14, while the electoral campaign was in full swing, he mentioned this decision in an article published in the Wall Street Journal : “In my opinion, this is nothing more than regulatory retaliation against one of the left's main targets: Mr. Musk.”
“Project 2025”
Brendan Carr is also the author of the telecoms chapter of “Project 2025”, a nearly 900-page document developed by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, and road map for the overhaul of the federal state under Donald Trump .
“The FCC must change course” et “achieve four primary goals: regaining control of Big Tech, promoting national security, unlocking economic prosperity, and ensuring FCC accountability and good governance,” he writes there.
His appointment could also have consequences in the media field. During his campaign, Donald Trump threatened to withdraw their broadcasting licenses from the CBS and ABC channels, which he accused of favoring Kamala Harris, very complex procedures which would go through the FCC.
