FCC Chair Brendan Carr says broadcast licenses are not a "property right"

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Aol/CBS News

Updated Sun, March 15, 2026 at 2:57 AM EDT


In an exclusive interview with CBS News on Saturday, Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr doubled down on his warning that broadcast licenses could be revoked amid President Trump's criticisms of media coverage of the war in Iran. "People have gotten used to the idea that, you know, licenses are some sort of property right, and there's nothing you can do that can result in losing their license," Carr told CBS News. "I try to sort of help reorient people that, no, there is a public interest, and broadcast is different."

Earlier Saturday, Carr wrote in an X post that "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. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not." Carr posted the message in response to Mr. Trump's Truth Social post slamming media coverage of an attack on U.S. air tankers in Saudi Arabia.

"Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service," Mr. Trump wrote. "None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines." In his post, Mr. Trump specifically criticized newspaper outlets The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, but the president has often criticized broadcast TV news outlets, claiming negative coverage and suggesting some have their licenses revoked.

Critics immediately pounced on Carr's post from Saturday. "Constitutional law 101: it's illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn't like about Trump's Iran war," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote on social media in response.

Read more: https://www.aol.com/articles/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-says-013500203.html

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Link to tweet

Elizabeth Warren
@SenWarren
·
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Constitutional law 101: it’s illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn’t like about Trump’s Iran war.

This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
Brendan Carr
@BrendanCarrFCC
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.

The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they
4:59 PM · Mar 14, 2026

Link to tweet

Chris Murphy 🟧
@ChrisMurphyCT
·
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The is the federal government telling news stations to provide favorable coverage of the war or their licenses will be pulled.

A truly extraordinary moment.

We aren't on the verge of a totalitarian takeover. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.

Act like it.
Brendan Carr
@BrendanCarrFCC
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.

The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they
5:35 PM · Mar 14, 2026

[SSJVegeta]

1. Different amendment bonehead

Brendan, kindly turn your Constitution to the first amendment.

[gfarber]

2. Broadcast License Control

There once was a chair named Brendan Carr,
Who warned, “Broadcasters better take care!
Your license could vanish,
Your airtime I’ll banish—
If your war coverage isn’t quite fair.”

He posted while tensions ran high with Iran,
Declaring the news had a plan:
“Hoaxes you’re spinning,
With distortions beginning—
Correct it before renewals begin!”

He echoed complaints from Trump, you see,
Who fumed at the press angrily:
“The headlines mislead!
They want us to bleed!”
(While blasting a scoop from The WSJ with glee.)

The outlet belongs to Dow Jones’s domain,
Yet comment requests went in vain.
Five tankers struck hard,
In a desert-base yard—
But the headline, said Trump, was the stain.

Then Pete Hegseth complained in a brief,
About CNN’s reporting with grief:
“Perhaps soon you’ll see
New control on TV—
And the coverage will offer relief.”

For David Ellison waits in the wings,
With a deal worth a hundred-plus things:
To buy Warner Bros. Discovery,
Through Paramount Skydance’s spree—
And reshape what the newsroom now brings.

He’s shaken up desks at CBS News before,
With a shift toward conservatives more.
Editors scatter,
Old balances shatter—
While pundits debate what’s in store.

And somewhere observers all grin,
At strong-armed control of the spin:
Even Vladimir Putin, they note,
Used subtler ways to promote
A grip on the news from within.

Disclaimer: Yes, an AI helped write this—because if you’re looking for pure, hand-crafted literary suffering, you’re welcome to go produce some yourself. If you like my attempts, consider clicking the link.

https://buymeacoffee.com/gfarber

[snot]

3. All of that said,

I absolutely agree that the public owns the airwaves, and have wondered why the issuance of licenses couldn't be conditioned upon a requirement that all broadcasters should make a certain amount of time or space available for free to each political candidate and also for pre-election debates.

But I agree that it should be held entirely unConstitutional for the government to censor political speech, either directly or through pressure on private parties (including social media platforms as well as broadcasters).

[Brother Buzz]

4. Ted Lieu to Trump's FCC troll Brendan Carr: "Take your fascist sh*t and shove it."

Ted Lieu to Trump's FCC troll Brendan Carr: "Take your fascist sh*t and shove it."


Ted Lieu
@tedlieu
Dear
@BrendanCarrFCC
: If you implement your flagrantly anti First Amendment actions, you will be sued and you will lose. And legal discovery will be awesome. Because the American people can then find out what the Administration keeps hiding.

Take your fascist shit and shove

Link to tweet

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