Trump FCC pick promises crackdown on social media 'censorship cartel'

Brendan Carr, President-elect Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), vowed Monday to break up the “censorship cartel” of social media platforms.

“I think Americans have been seeing an unprecedented surge in censorship, particularly over the last couple of years,” Carr said on NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” adding, “It's going to be one of my top priorities, is trying to smash this censorship cartel.”

Carr, a current FCC commissioner, argued that platforms are acting on their own to “censor” speech, as well as facing pressure from government officials and advertising and marketing agencies.

He suggested that the FCC could take aim at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides technology companies with immunity for content posted on their platforms by third parties.

“That's the provision that a lot of these technology companies have used to silence diversion speech,” Carr said. “I think the FCC can take a look at implementing that in a way that can promote more speech, not less.”

“So, there's a lot on the FCC plate that I would look forward to getting started on,” he continued.

Carr’s remarks echo comments he made in a letter to the leaders of Alphabet, Google, Meta and Microsoft last month, in which he criticized the major tech firms’ work with fact-checker NewsGuard.

In an accompanying post on the social platform X, he similarly argued the “censorship cartel must be dismantled.”

Social media platforms’ content moderation policies have long come under fire from conservatives, who argue that they are unfairly targeted by such policies.

Two Republican attorneys general sued the Biden administration last year over officials’ communications with social media companies about COVID-19 and election misinformation, arguing that they “coordinated and colluded” to “identify disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content.”

The case was heard by the Supreme Court, which ruled in June that the states lacked standing to bring the suit. The court did not address the First Amendment issues at the heart of the case.

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